


Broken Glass

by Aviendha69



Series: Reylo Short Stories and Novellas [4]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Angst, Eventual Smut, F/M, First Order Politics (Star Wars), Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Make love like war, Mutiny!, NSFW, Reylo - Freeform, Reylo-centric, Slavery, Slow Burn, Stormtrooper Rebellion (Star Wars), TROS Alternate, dubcon, earn it mofos, this story has more plot than porn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-27
Updated: 2020-12-31
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:20:42
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 33
Words: 97,149
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23877586
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aviendha69/pseuds/Aviendha69
Summary: Kylo Ren manages to knock out and capture Rey on the Supremacy. She escapes her cell, but remains trapped on the new flagship and hides between the walls where her scavenger skills prove useful. She soon discovers she is not the only stowaway on boardThe Steadfastand many other ships of the First Order, revealing to Kylo important flaws in the "lawful and disciplined" organization.Kylo, freed from Snoke's possession, realizes that power comes with responsibility.Starts Reylo-centric. Then, all hell breaks loose.Note: Idon't have a beta. Comments would help.
Relationships: Finn/Rose Tico, Kylo Ren/Rey, Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Series: Reylo Short Stories and Novellas [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1746646
Comments: 30
Kudos: 89
Collections: Reylo, TROS Reylo Fix-it Fics





	1. Prologue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kylo Ren defeats Rey in the Throne room.

* * *

"What... happened?" Hux demanded as Kylo Ren struggled to his feet. The wound in his side had reopened, he could feel the ragged tear rub under his armor. The voice in his head was silent, gone. He looked for the girl, Rey; she was still unconscious, lying a few feet away. Then he looked out the viewport where a deployment of First Order forces was headed for the mining colony where the Resistance, and his mother, had holed up. 

He looked back at Hux. 

"I killed Snoke. The girl helped me kill the guards. Call off the attack." 

"You _killed_ the Supreme Leader! Are you insane?" Hux immediately reached for his blaster. 

Kylo Ren reached for Hux's throat with the Force and began to squeeze it. 

"The Supreme Leader is dead," he prompted, staring Hux down. 

There was a moment's vain attempt at resistance before Hux finally croaked: "Long live the Supreme Leader!" 

"Call off the attack. Tell the Resistance the girl Rey is our hostage." He dropped the General to his knees. 

"Yes, Supreme Leader." Hux coughed as he stumbled to the comm console to pass the orders down. 

Kylo Ren secured the Skywalker saber before walking to where Rey lay. An angry bruise was swelling on her forehead where he had knocked her out. He crouched down to gently push the hair out of her face as he whispered an apology to her. Then he picked her up. The touch burned him. 

"I'm headed for the med-bay, " he announced. 

"What about this?" Hux looked around at the carnage. 

"Call maintenance to clean this up. Organize a proper ceremony for the fallen." 

"This is highly irregular! General Pryde and the others will never recognize — " 

"You forget I have the Knights of Ren with me. I'm sure you'll find ways to ease the passation of Powers." 

Carrying the Scavenger, he made for the elevator. 

While they descended, Kylo stared unhindered into her face. Even unconscious, she radiated Light. Grimy and sweaty and bruised and she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. She was so lithe and so young and so powerful and when she woke, she would be so angry with him; and he thought even that would be beautiful. He cradled her to his chest, resisting the temptation to kiss her while she was vulnerable even as he knew it would burn him to do so; it took half of his will to control himself. The other half was using the Force to stem the flow of blood that was pooling in his boot. He had to make it to med bay before passing out. 

She finally stirred and Kylo’s heart beat wildly. She opened her eyes, confused, and he let her down gently. "What happened? Where are you taking me?" she demanded. Then the memory hit and she pushed him away: "The Resistance! I have to get to them!" 

"I called off the attack." He was getting light-headed. 

"You did? But then, why am I here? Why do you look so white?" She was frowning, the situation made little sense to her. 

"I did, and you are my hostage for a cease-fire. And if I pass out, tell them I am the Supreme Leader now." He had no Rage left. 

"Pass out? Oh no, no, no, don't pass out... they'll kill me." 

He swayed and she tried to prop him up. She felt warm moisture soaking his tunic, her hand came away bloody. She concentrated and he felt her probe him. He tried to resist but he was fading now. 

Then Rey stepped back and _slapped_ him across the face as hard as she could. 

For a second he saw stars and the _indignity_ of it ignited his fire. Strength came back and he caught her wrist before a second blow could land. 

She was furious. Her Light became a flame. The Scavenger had enough Rage to fuel both of them and when the lift-door opened he practically marched out, dragging her kicking and screaming to the medics, where they quickly sedated her and then took him to get patched up on the way to the escape shuttle to the Steadfast. The Supremacy had been split in half by a Resistances maneuver, taking half the fleet with it. Kylo was impressed but he would have to deal with the fallout of such a blow later. 


	2. Part I - The Prowler

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A child woke her.

“Supreme Leader,” the junior Aide before him looked terrified. He swallowed before adding, “she's escaped again." 

_ Again _ . "Did she manage to steal a ship this time?" Kylo Ren rubbed his eyes. The girl exposed a great deal of weaknesses in the First Order. It was embarrassing. 

"No Sir. We had no suspicious boardings either, so she's still on board." 

"Well, look for her, then. Bring her to me when you find her.  _ Unharmed _ . Dismissed." Kylo knew he only made the task impossible for them, but she had helped him, and she might still come around to seeing things his way. 

He was on board the Steadfast, the First Order's new flagship. Rey, the Scavenger, was on board his ship, hiding somewhere in the maintenance tunnels, in some nook or cranny. She could be anywhere. The thought made his skin crawl, like having some bug creeping around in his clothes, somewhere he couldn't quite reach. 

She had figured out how to override electronic door locks. She had gotten better at the Mind-Trick. She could cause incalculable damage to his fleet, like some rat, chewing away at electrical wiring, until the house burned down. 

Or… she could sneak into his quarters at night and kill him. He thought of that for a moment. He could assign guards round the clock to protect him. Right. That would look good. 

Maybe they would be lucky and catch her again within days. Maybe she would commandeer a ship and fly out. He half-hoped she would.

**

Once Rey made it to the kitchens, she knew she would be alright. She filled her pack with dry rations and a bottle with nutri-milk. None of the cabinets were locked... to her. There were multiple access points: doors, ventilation, even the garbage chute was large enough she was able to crawl up or down to the unlocked receptacle. She saw that they composted, which meant they had gardens for fresh produce. 

She managed to find the laundry and mixed and matched some darker, stealthier clothing for herself, and some blankets. She found a tiny cubbyhole to sleep in. If she moved around often, and cleaned up after herself, she could remain hidden for _ weeks _ . 

She could wreak havoc on the whole fleet: disrupt weapons' systems. Communications. Navigation. Essential services. She was almost giddy with the possibilities. 

**

The sound went out. The Bond connected them. "Having fun?" he asked her, "plenty of food?" Kylo tried to see around her but could only see red light reflecting on her face, coloring her lips a deeper rose. 

"Yes. This is a  _ big _ ship; you have four mess halls, so far." Rey rummaged through her bag, until she found what she was looking for and moaned appreciatively as she popped a fruit into her mouth. "Hmmm, delicious." She smiled a full, red-smeared smile at him, glowing with lifeforce. 

Kylo was so stunned by her audacity he didn't react until after the connection winked out. Then he smiled. The dark clothing suited her. 

**

Hux and Pryde stood before him, horrified by their own ineffectiveness. Kylo just sat there, looking at them sternly as they stuttered reassurances and excuses. Once they left, he laughed. 

**

The Scavenger climbed up the laundry chute. It was only a few meters up, and of course, exclusive to the Supreme Leader’s quarters. She had little trouble opening the hatch. Silently, she stepped into his quarters. 

It was a strange feeling, prowling around into his personal space this way. 

The quarters were spartan, as expected, though here and there, they were traces of his personality, now that it was allowed to grow through again. She looked around the fresher where the laundry chute opened up. The sonic/shower was bigger in his quarters, encased in glass, beads of water still clung to the door. There was his shampoo and a lavender soap in a dish, a single, curly hair attached to it. There was the little sink, with a toothbrush in a holder, a decorated porcelain tumbler near it. Also, near it was a metal-blade razor, of an ancient style. 

Looking into the mirror, Rey imagined him standing in this spot, shaving away the wild growth of the night. She looked down at the little wine-colored mat that kept his bare feet from the cold tile. It was clean and plush. She could almost make out the outlines of his bare feet. 

She left the fresher. It connected on one side to his bedroom, and on the other to a large living area with a huge viewport. 

There were four rooms assigned to him in total. The living area had a little counter with a sink, a heating pad and a mini-fridge, a basket of fresh fruit, and a caf machine; it connected to a little office/boudoir that led to the corridors outside. In the living area was also a wall-length library and a settee looking out at the stars. There was a little table before the window. On it was a calligraphy set; paper — real paper — as well as charcoals and brushes for drawing. She studied them; some were beautiful hand-drawn technical drawings for lightsaber hilts or other weapons, some were illustrations of oceans or trees for poems written in a language she didn’t know. 

She looked at the books. It was an eclectic collection of Sith texts, Jedi texts, philosophy... but also engineering, poetry, medicine. Some looked well used. The shelves were only half full of books, though; there were other items showcased within their ranks. Ornate daggers, purple gemstones, holocrons; a game of stones she knew and played with her Resistance friends. 

On a pedestal before the bookcase was a deformed relic that looked like an old mask. She neared it and felt the hypnotic presence in the room. It seemed to contain a modicum of Force within it. 

She made it to Kylo’s bedroom. The large bed was made, if quickly. One pillow was dented, the other obviously disused. On a bedside table was a lamp and a paper book. There were framed prints on the wall, one a representation of a large ocean wave that seemed taller than a mountain island behind it. 

Another was a series of three prints of colorful fish swimming upstream a river. In the second print, the river was steep and its current was treacherous; in the third print, only the black fish had made it to a lakelet. There was a pale fish there, but the black fish had partially transformed into a large mythical creature adorned with a red mane and long tendrils. The frightening snake-like creature seemed poised on the edge of flight, but it was looking at the moon-pale, elegant fish circling in the pond. There was text in the margin of each print, in the same language that Kylo used in his own drawings. 

On the side table under them was a hairbrush and a wooden comb with some hair ties. 

In the recessed closet were his clothes; tunics in various degrees of padding for training or normal wear, trousers, undershirts, and wide leather belts. In a drawer she found soft woolen socks, neatly paired and folded. Natural fiber underwear. Most of the clothing were in shades of black, but an occasional piece was worn grey, or a deep indigo. One heavy cloak had a red silk lining. She found a pair of thick, black leather gloves, and slipped one on. It was much too big for her small hands. There was a distinct iron tang emanating from it, along with smoke and sweat. It was singed in places from the quillons of his crazy lightsaber and bore some well-worn spots. She put it back. Two pairs of black leather boots, one new, one old, and a pair of training shoes stood on the floor of the closet. 

Everything looked dutifully scrubbed or polished, clean and precisely ordered. Rey imagined him sitting in the simple chair next to the closet, polishing his boots. Would he sit before the starport instead, letting hyperspace illuminate his thoughts? 

She moved to the little office. A First Order banner was the only ornament on the wall, behind the dark wooden desk. There was a console and a couple of datapads on the desk, with two stylets, arranged precisely. There was only one chair. A shelf contained some black-bound books and datacubes. No sign of her Lightsaber. 

She was tempted to steal a datapad, then thought better of it. She would come back. 

Suddenly, she heard movement outside the door; she ran for the clothes hamper, and dived in head first. 

**

Kylo felt her presence the moment he closed the door. He ran to the other rooms, but she had escaped. He could smell her musk, almost feel her heat, so she must have just made it out. He went to the hidden door in his bedroom. There was no sign of tampering. He looked to the ceiling, the vents were in place, untampered as well. He would have seen her exit by his office door,  _ which way had she gone?  _

He spent several moments inspecting his appartements. She had touched a few things but been careful not to disturb anything. Nothing seemed missing. She was not hiding somewhere ready to jump him in his sleep. Was she hoping to taunt him? 

No. She was looking for the Skywalker lightsaber. She was no Jedi without it. He unhooked it from his belt, held it in his hand, considering. 

He had the perfect bait. 

**

Getting into the ship's systems would be harder than Rey had thought. It would take at least a few days before she could either crack a console herself, or glean codes from an unsuspecting tech's mind. Meanwhile, she still had kilometers of ship decks to explore, and she could cause plenty of mischief. Pulled fuses, blocked air vents, dry water fountains, inoperable light switches... She managed to pilfer some tools and a dagger, for which she made a cloth sheath to keep it silent and secure while she climbed up and down service tubes and passageways. She found Hux's quarters and moved things around. 

She decided to explore the whole width and breadth of the ship. 

It was huge. The _Steadfast_ was a _Resurgent-class Star Destroyer_. Not as big as a _Dreadnought_ , and nowhere near the _Supremacy_ — which could be compared to a mobile nation all to itself — but the First Order flagship could transport and house over sixty thousand troops and personnel inside a ship nearly three galactic standard kilometers long by one and a half kilometers in width. It was only half a kilometer tall, to avoid turbo-lift abuse, but that still made for dizzying heights to cross or crawl around in the maintenance areas. 

To her surprise, Rey found that the ship seemed to have " _ dead zones _ ". Disaffected areas with empty quarters or offices. An unused mess hall. Some areas seemed simply to be in unfinished states of renovations. One was a giant storage area for obsolete or discarded equipment, far from any useful facility, dusty and abandoned; another zone looked as if repairs to the hull had been made after some important hit, but once the breach had been sealed, restoration had been indefinitely postponed. She slept in that area during that cycle. 

**

The cease-fire held. After the devastating losses on both sides, neither belligerent was ready to restart hostilities, and it was easy for the Supreme Leader to threaten to execute the Jedi-aspirant, Rey of Jakku, since they held her hostage. The comms teams had managed to doctor enough surveillance footage together to make it appear as if she were kept in a cell, instead of roaming about the ship, causing havoc. So far, security had contained that information. Her mischief was starting to affect his staff, though. Hux was testy and his hair was... different. 

**

A child woke her. Only her scavenger reflexes kept her from losing her pack, snatching it back from the tiny hand that was quietly pulling it away. 

"Wait," she called after the fleeing child, "I can share with you." The waif stopped, just near an access hatch it could jump into. 

Rey was amazed. What was a child doing in this area? What was a  _ child _ doing on board? The boy — if it was a boy — looked dirty and bedraggled. She quickly opened her pack, brought out the food it contained, looked at the dry rations and took out the three fruits she was carrying. She offered those. 

The child stayed put, looking at her suspiciously, silent. She rolled the fruit in his direction. He picked them up quickly and disappeared down the hatch that was too small even for her. 

The sight threw her back to her memories of childhood on Jakku. Inside a star destroyer, a child prowling about, looking for scraps. 

Inside a  _ serviceable _ and  _ crewed _ star destroyer. In  _ space _ . A waif. A dirty, abandoned scavenger. It was astounding. 


	3. Newling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Snoke beat you" she stated plainly.
> 
> "Supreme Leader Snoke took me in when I had nowhere to go. When no one wanted me."

When the Bond connected them she was covered in grime, while he'd just come out of the shower, a towel around his waist and one in hand he was drying his hair with. 

"This is inconvenient in the extreme!" he shouted at the walls. _What if he'd been on the can?_ The Force was mocking him personally, he was sure of it. But Rey looked more surprised than embarrassed this time, frowning in deep concentration. Where in seven hells could she be that was so filthy as to be covered in dust? Was she still on board the ship? 

"Kylo Ren. How old is this ship?" 

Her question answered his. "Not even a hello, Rey? That's impolite." She was calling him Kylo again. 

"You're right, forgive me. 'Hello', Kylo Ren, how old is this ship?" Her quick agreement to his demand was even more surprising than her appearance. Her question seemed important. 

"No very old, maybe seven standard years. Why? Where the hell have you been? How can you be so _dirty_?" He couldn't imagine any part of his ship not in pristine condition. 

"I found a trash compactor, and some reclamation tanks, obviously." She squinted at him. "Do you have any idea how _big_ this ship is?" 

"Well it is a Star Destroyer, but I was on the _Supremacy_ ," he answered, somewhat smugly. "You know there are several "public" 'freshers per deck. You should find one of those… soon." 

"Yeah, I'll get right on that "Supreme Leader", as soon as I track down… what I'm looking for." 

"I take it that you haven't found it yet." He thought she meant the Lightsaber. _His_ Lightsaber. 

"There's something I _did_ find. I don't know that I can trust you with it. Any news for me?" 

_She wants to trust me again. Can she_ ? he wondered; he'd been a shit, telling her she was garbage. _What can I say so she trusts me?_ "The Last Jedi Luke Skywalker is safe with the Resistance," he told her. It rankled, but even if Luke started a Jedi academy this week, it would be years before any threat came out of it. Calling Luke the "Last" Jedi was a little prick to her pride. 

"This...this _connection_ we have...is it unusual?" She waited. 

"Yes. It is." He waited. The connection seemed to linger unusually long. 

She looked at him silently, gauging him. He was barefoot. Some primordial instinct in her considered the breadth of his shoulders, the definition of his muscle mass, the abundance of his dark mane. He was strong. What a waste. She could see some of his battle scars: the ones she and Chewie gave him were still fresh. He turned to deposit his hair towel behind him and she saw the criss-cross of lashes on his back. Those weren't battle scars. She had a few herself. Plutt had put them there. 

"Snoke beat you," she stated plainly. 

"Supreme Leader Snoke took me in when I had nowhere to go. When no one wanted me," he said in a cold, unfeeling tone. Like a response he had recited over and over. Like a litany. There were forces at play here that went beyond reason. 

The Bond mercifully faded out. 

* 

So Kylo Ren had served his Master like a slave. He had reached a breaking point, then killed him. 

She thought of all the events that had happened in barely a week: a runaway stormtrooper and a droid carrying the map to Luke Skywalker finding her on Jakku. Taking the _Millenium Falcon_ to escape. _Han Solo_ finding them, finding the Skywalker Lightsaber, then taking that fateful mission to Starkiller base. Meeting Kylo Ren through the interrogation probe. Her sudden coming into her powers. Defeating Ren, after his patricide ruptured both his mind and his body. Finding Luke Skywalker before Snoke. That incredible connection to Kylo/Ben, bonding them. 

The immense power they shared as they fought against a common enemy. 

She had trusted him. He had trusted her. Then he had knocked her out and trapped her, while he became Supreme Leader. 

" _Join me. Please,_ " he had pleaded with her. She wondered: _now that Snoke is dead, what does Kylo Ren want?_

She turned her thoughts back to what she was doing before the Force interrupted her. Finding that waif. 

** 

After a moment, he dropped his towel and got dressed. As he ate his meal, he unpacked the conversation. 

First, parts of his ship were filthy. Second, in those parts was something important. Something she felt he should know about, but for her to tell him it required more trust than she had in him now. Something that required compassion then. Had she found other conflicted troopers like FN-2187? 

Third, she had appraised his physical appearance. Apparently he met her approval, until the scars on him had made her aware of his path to power. 

A week had passed since his ascension. He was already regretting it. He'd only ever led the Knights of Ren and that had been through sheer force of will and beating back regular challenges. A whole military organization, as decimated as it was now, with ambitions to rule over the whole galaxy was more than he had thought to take on alone. Her refusing him had thrown him for a loop. 

Unless she had rejected _power_ , and not him. 

Snoke's presence was gone from his mind, but the void it left was as black as ever, and it failed to bring him any certainty or comfort. He felt lost. The only thing that seemed to anchor him was his pursuit of Rey of Jakku though he didn't know what he would do with her if he caught her. Not kill her like Luke, his old goal. _Snoke's_ goal. With Snoke _gone_ , he no longer felt as much Rage. He did feel a lot more fear and shame though. 

His nightmares had changed as well, confirming how much the old monster had been responsible for them. Instead of suffering Snoke's wrath for failed missions, he saw his acts clearly. The _things_ he had done. His father's surprised look. His father's loving caress. 

Bleeding his own Kyber crystal, something Siths never did. He had done that, cracking it. Cracking himself. 

He put the Skywalker Lightsaber in the case with Darth Vader's distorted mask, then closed the case with the elaborate lock he had had the Sith alchemist make for just this purpose. It was complex enough to take her a long time to crack: he should be able to get to her first. 

He looked at both items, reunited. One bright, one dark. For a moment, he felt on the edge of revelation. 

Then the comm rang. 

**

The scavenger washed herself as best she could, but kept her grimy clothes and went back to the place she had first encountered the boy. She left some rations outside the pack before going to sleep curled up around her more useful items. She woke up to a soft call. 

"Hey?" 

"Missus?" The voices were from near that vent hatch; there were at least two. She came awake, put herself in a defensive stance, watching them with narrowed eyes. 

"Who are you? What do you want?" She was just as wary of them as they were of her; she was just like them, a stowaway. 

"See, I told you: she's not a 'twooper'." He was missing his front teeth. 

"Hush, there hasn't been a purge in months. Maybe this is a new way for them to get us." 

"I saw her climb and move across the shafts. She's like us, like Galad Taren." 

"Hush." This was a girl, older, almost her age. Her hair was shorn short, but still dirty. She moved forward, flashing a blade. "Who took you?" she demanded. 

"Who took... Kylo Ren. Kylo Ren took me." She had a flash of understanding. She didn't like it at all. "Who took you?" 

There was a surprised breath. She heard them whisper, using the Force to keen her senses: 

"A _Ren_ , that's bad. Can't believe she's in such good shape." 

"She said _Kylo_ Ren. He's never taken anyone before." 

"On this ship. Maybe on another ship?" 

"We'd know from one of the Ren foundlings." The older girl answered her question: 

"Left-tenant Carron. Escaped 634 cycles ago. You?" 

"Five cycles? I'm not sure, second escape in a week." 

More whispering: 

"She doesn't move like a newling." 

"Two escapes in one week? That's impossible." 

They looked at her some more. She sat back, a little dazed by the revelations she was hearing. "My name is Rey," she introduced herself. 

The older girl nodded and replied "Edda Carron. If you come with us, you will be Rey Kylo. Or Rey Ren, if you want." 

Rey picked up her things. She looked at the boy, a question on her face. 

"Lauss Galad. Born free. Four full-cycles." He smirked at her confused expression. Then he looked down the vent they had used, made some hand signals to someone still inside before turning back to Rey: "Come, we have to go by another way, you're too big for this way." 

*

They took her to a warren of cubicles halfway down the starboard wing of the Steadfast. There was barely enough room to sit up straight, let alone stand. Before she could come in the area proper, she was once again interrogated, by another older girl: Galad Taren, their "Eldest". 

She was blunt: 

"You look too old for a companion." She glared at the two who had brought her. She looked to be Rey's age. She had a dagger of her own, an inky substance visible on its tip. Poison. 

Rey had to process things quickly to give an acceptable answer. She looked at the little troop gathered behind their leader: she could count maybe a dozen. Most seemed to be teenage girls. Four were Twi'lek. She saw two toddlers. "I think I have a special value to Kylo Ren." The Scavenger felt a kindred spirit to this community of stowaways, telling the truth would have measurable weight. 

Galad Taren hissed: "What does that mean? Why you?" 

Rey remembered: _‘You're nothing; but not to me’_ , he'd told her. "I am a Force-user like him," Rey Kylo said. 

Another hiss: she was a dangerous catch. "Prove it." It was a challenge. 

Rey put her pack down, then lifted it with the Force. When she let it drop, the boldest boys stole it and quickly emptied it, then reported their findings: "No lumen droids or other floaters. A blaster. Some food: dried and fresh. A bottle. Tools. Quality rope with a good hook. Some cloth wraps. Oooh... bacta patches!"


	4. Children

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He finished the current form with a traditional salute before turning and padding lightly towards her. His eyes had the faraway look of one in a deep meditative trance. Then they focused on her and his approach became more and more muscular, more and more predatory as he neared her. He was Kylo Ren. 

They let her inside the small space they could almost all fit in. She told them about Jakku, about being a scavenger, about being captured by Kylo, about discovering her powers, about escaping. She omitted the Bond between them - hoping it wouldn't connect at this moment - and the Jedi, and her role in the Resistance. It was enough that the Supreme Leader had taken an interest in her, and that she had escaped. In return, they shared their own history. 

The powerful imposed their order on their subjects, but didn't always apply those rules to themselves. The spartan philosophy of the First Order looked organized and sanitary to the outside world, but from the inside, the pressure to attain perfection and the banality of evil wore at some more than others. Add to that frequent raids on villages for youths to be conscripted into the army and you had the availability of young bodies too hard to resist for some officers. Their standing assured them secure and - most importantly - soundproof quarters. So they took "companions". 

Some of the captors had merely been lonely: their companions relatively well treated. Most had been lustful. Some, like the Ren, sadistic: those few who had escaped more often than not were maimed or disfigured, often not surviving more than a few days. The Ren often shared their catches, making for truly terrifying stories. 

Some of the girls were pregnant when they had escaped. Few kept the baby. Lauss Galad was one such that had been kept. Another, still at his too-young mother's breast, stirred sleepily in her arms. He would be given a name if he lived to walk. Toddlers and children of Lauss's age were a mixed blessing: their size was a definite advantage in terms of mobility, but a reminder of their mother's suffering. 

Every few months, small lethal droids were dispatched inside the network of tunnels and maintenance shafts to purge the ship of its "pests". The latest purge had taken half their numbers before the last hunter-seeker droid had been destroyed. 

"They know you exist," stated Rey. 

"Those that lose us know. They keep it a secret, you can be sure." Edda Carron told her, "It's against the rules. We think many companions are pushed out of airlocks when their taker thinks they'll be discovered. It was lucky I escaped." 

Escapees kept the name of their "takers" as a way to keep track of them. Some names were common. It was said there were at least five ex-companions named Medenaus; that one was both lecherous and negligent. If a baby was kept, it took its mother's name. It was "born-free". 

Every now and then, the huge ships docked to system stations for some additional maintenance. Migrations of ex-companion groups happened then. Much information was exchanged. There were rumors of some escaping planet-side. It was a story told with reverent hope, like a final escape to Hava - a mythical place of sky and sunshine. Most had come from planet-raids of course, though a few had been born already in slavery; naming a place "Hava" gave them hope. Learning this confirmed what Rey thought she should do. 

"I'll find a way to get you on planet," she promised. Galad was sceptical. She looked Rey over. 

"Did he " _take_ " you, Kylo Ren?" the Eldest asked, curious. 

Rey didn't understand the question at first. When she did, she blushed. "No. No, he didn't." 

"Ah. Didn't think so. Not his style." 

The information troubled Rey. It said much about Kylo. Imagining what the Eldest had meant said much about her. She shook her head. "How can I help you now?" 

** 

It was hard for the Supreme Leader to concentrate on planning future missions of the First Order. What _was_ the future? He had been set on a single task for years. In the end he had failed, but no one was around to punish him. He held all the power in the universe, weapons tech and Force alike; only his mother's Resistance was in the way, now an annoyance at best. 

He tried to imagine winning once and for all, over every system in the Galaxy... and failed miserably. It didn't seem to make sense. 

He felt for the Force inside him. It flowed sluggish and black like petrol. He could kill anyone he wanted with it. He could take any woman he wanted with it. Neither would caress his cheek as they died. 

That caress suddenly felt more precious to him than any strip-mine, any army, any Star-Destroyer. 

"Supreme Leader. Supreme Leader. _Kylo Ren_ , we need you to approve this battle plan for the Lannik system." That was Hux, calling him to attention. With immense power came immense responsibility. 

"Yes, General Hux. If there are no further changes, you may proceed." They were still a few days out from their destination. 

He felt a sudden vibration from the device on his wrist. The Scavenger was in his quarters. He got up and almost ran out of the War room. 

"Where is he going now?" he heard someone's complaint fade as he took the nearest lift to his apartments. 

Outside his door, he shielded his signature. He made to silently open it when all sound muted and the Force connected them. 

Rey startled upright, a loud gasp escaping her lips. "Damn." 

"Fuck!" grumbled Kylo. They looked at each other. She closed her hand to hide something in her fist, obviously a tool to pick the lock. He stood unmoving, just outside his own door. If he walked in just now, would she see him doubled? Would he? 

"At least you washed," he said lamely. 

"At least you're dressed" she replied equally lamely. 

He remembered their last exchange: "Did you find what you were looking for?" It was almost a trick question. 

He saw her pause reflectively. She paced around a bit - _in my quarters, just through this door_ , he thought - and then she decided. 

"I did." She moved towards him, close enough to look into his eyes. He wondered if he could just seize her and pull her to him. He wondered if he could sneak up on her while she was distracted by the Bond. He wondered what he would do with her when he caught her. Her Light was a constant threat to the Darkness, to his power, burning it away. 

"Kylo, what is the First Order’s policy on keeping "guests" - civilian guests - on board ships?" 

Startled, it took him a moment before he answered her question. "It's strictly prohibited. There can be occasional, short-term exceptions like family visits, but once a member of personnel forms a serious attachment, they must move to an on-planet base, where there are reserved quarters. Military ships are no place for families." Her question confused him. It evoked all matters of strange scenarios in his mind, and it took him a moment for him to remember she was his enemy. Of sorts. 

She was hesitant still. She moved even closer. He stood his ground, caught between fleeing and giving in to her. It was the elevator ride all over again. 

"What if I told you there were children trapped on board this ship?" She was looking deep into his eyes; looking for Leia's son. 

"Why would you tell me that?" He felt the bond waver. "Meet with me," he asked her. 

"I will." She faded out. 

He knocked on his own door before opening it. When he walked in he heard banging from the 'fresher. She had slipped down the clothing hatch. There was no way he could follow her down there. She would meet him somewhere else. Since she was still close, he tried to mind-speak with her. *Where?* he projected.

A surprised *What!?* and she answered: *Officer's mess kitchen on deck 24, next down cycle.* 

* 

There were _children_ on board his ship. _Unacknowledged_ children. Living in areas that were filthy, scavenging for survival, like rats. Where did they _come_ from? 

It was strictly prohibited to keep guests on board ships. 

He sat in his "thinking" chair, chin in his hand. 

His mind was progressively untangling itself from the bondage he had endured for decades. Memories of his childhood were surfacing again. Those memories seemed brighter somehow. A dark taint was lifting from them, as visual memories clashed with audio commentaries susurrated into his mind. Perceived slights that had triggered rage tantrums seemed less now. Moments of solitude had not lasted days after all. The faces smiling at him did not seem ready to mock him so much. 

He saw that fateful night again, his Uncle Luke's face clearly now. Confused, horrified. Not by his Padawan's internal struggle, but by his own horrible attempt on his nephew's life. He saw the flash of regret clearly now. He heard Luke cry "Ben, no!" before he'd brought everything crashing and burning down around them. 

It was as if he'd lived most of his life inside a nightmare, and was finally waking up. Reality was strange to him. There were fewer certainties, and a lot more options. He went to sit at his drawing table. Drawing and writing had become pleasures again. Like many things he was free to enjoy anew: music, food, swimming. His own body. He wished he had someone to share these with. He was still lonely. 

Thinking he would meet her in a few hours inspired him. 

_A moonlight meeting_

_with the scavenger, with she_

_who could steal me away_

He looked at the few lines critically. He would write more. 

** 

She spent the next hours taking as many fresh food and medical supplies as she could pack. Very little was barred to her. She could trick pairs of guards now. One of the girls - Dabella Tross - too young to be having a baby, would soon have a baby. 

**

He wore light training clothes : light shirt, loose pants, trainers, to meet with her. He wasn't feeling confrontational, not anymore. They hadn't convened of a precise time so he showed up in the first quarter, thinking to read for a while, maybe fix himself a sandwich, maybe practice some unarmed combat forms and wait a couple hours. 

The kitchen counters gleamed in the half-light of off-hours. The great fridges purred smoothly. Pots and pans hung in their proper places. The floor was clean. Serviceware was put away in its cabinets. The schedules were up on the walls. He grabbed a few Jogan fruits and a glass of water, made for the dining room. After an hour of reading, he got up, stretched, and practiced a series of forms in a moving meditation. 

*

When she arrived, she stilled so she could observe him. In the half-light, she saw he was darker than the shadows. 

He was dancing. Eyes closed, he appeared to be following distinct patterns and she realized that he was practicing forms in a slow, flowing way that looked like dancing. He was graceful. As she watched, she had the impression he became lighter, somehow. He looked peaceful. He was Ben. 

Reluctantly, she cleared her throat. 

He finished the current form with a traditional salute before turning and padding lightly towards her. His eyes had the faraway look of one in a deep meditative trance. Then they focused on her and his approach became more and more muscular, more and more predatory as he neared her. He was Kylo Ren. 

She let out a nervous sigh, re-checking her environment. She had placed herself between an exit and his plate of snacks where it sat on a high counter that she circled to place between them. When he reached the counter, he picked up and drank from the glass and offered her some of the fruit. She accepted one, he took another. They ate in silence, each gauging the other. 

"You said there were children on board this ship?" he finally asked. 

"Yes. And there's one on the way. Tomorrow or this week." 

"On the way from where?" They were in space, what did she mean? 

"It's about to be _born_ this week." 

"I thought you said children?" 

"The mother is still technically a child, yes. She's thirteen. Her foundling name is Dabella Tross. As in _Lieutenant-Commander_ Tross." 

He said nothing for a moment. His mind was racing: Tross's family was on the First Order base on Velmor, he had accepted a promotion to come on board. Then: "Why are you telling me this?" 

"I think you can do something about it." 

With power comes responsibility. 

Of all the things he had ever wanted, he never thought that the confidence she was showing him now would have so much value. 

"How can I help?"


	5. Muck

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He had no Master and no Apprentice.

"Getting them off ship, and into quality orphanages would be a start. Finding and freeing those that are still captive would follow nicely. Punishing the... monsters who used them would complete the task." 

"I'll talk with Tross." The Supreme Leader would have a conversation with his Lieutenant. Maybe demote him. 

"You'll tal- . Nevermind. I'll do it myself. Please don't "talk" to anyone until after I get them off ship." Her confidence in him evaporated. 

"Why? What do you mean?" 

"If you alert them, those that know about it will start a "purge". That means sending hunter-droids after the escapees, and pushing those still trapped in personal quarters out of airlocks. It could mean hundreds of deaths." 

"Hundreds? There can't be hundreds on board this ship!" He couldn't believe it. The First Order was about control and discipline for the Greater Good. What she was saying was..." 

"Not just this ship, Ben. All the ships, stations too. I counted a dozen survivors, but there could be twice that many locked up in closets right now. Girls. Boys. Children. Being abused by powerful old men." 

That sparked something in him. 

"Rey… You'll need a transport." He thought of something. "The Bond is not reliable for communications. I will leave notes for you in my quarters." 

She nodded. "I'll draw up a list of names." She made to leave. Then a dark expression shadowed her face. "Ren," she said. 

"What?" Kylo looked at her, listening. 

"The Ren do it too. They torture their victims. So badly, most of them don't survive." 

He wasn't surprised, not really. He'd just kept it out of his mind, thinking only of hunting the Jedi and avoiding Snoke's punishment. Of growing his power to escape Snoke's punishment. The Ren were Snoke's Icewolf-pack. He was their pack-leader. 

"Rey… _I'm_ a Ren. Why did you come to me?" 

"Because you have the power to stop this." She paused. "And because when I told them you were the one that "took" me, they were very surprised." 

_Children know me_ , he thought. 

"I'll reserve a transport for next time we are in orbit." He watched her go. He could practically see the Light emanating from her. It dazzled him. He wanted to touch her, even if he knew she would unravel him. 

** 

It had been a good interaction: they both had been civil, coming to an agreement, like when they had confronted Snoke. Before he had taken her prisoner. Giving her a transport meant he would release her. 

She thought of this; there were two distinct groups of refugees: the escaped and the still-trapped. The task required several trips. It required discretion. Did Ren understand the need to not awaken suspicion? 

She wondered if he could be as stealthy as his predilection for the shadows promised. He was brutish, at times, but his grace let him easily meld into obscurity, like a shadow himself. A shadow of himself. A shadow that formed a blindspot on her vision. 

She made her way back to the warren of tunnels the little band currently squatted. 

* 

Even if the foundlings were good at climbing and squeezing themselves through surprisingly small apertures - and had good lockpicking skills - some areas were only accessible with her powers : sparsely guarded doors or better e-locks she could use the Force to bypass. The med bay was one such a space. The medical supplies Rey brought were most appreciated. Hurrying on her way back from one excursion, she slipped as she crossed a vertical vent tunnel and dropped one of her prizes. She heard it hit bottom: a wet sound like muck, rare in these ships. She made a little mote of Light with the Force, let it float down. Maybe thirty meters. There were no rails to climb down, but there was a protrusion she could clip her rope to. 

Going down went smoothly. She tested the floor gingerly before stepping down; that muck could be centimeters, or it could be meters deep, a terrifying new kind of danger to her. The packet was within reach with the Force, but she could see tunnels branching off from this shaft: maybe unexplored areas? She tried to picture a blueprint of the ship in her mind but wasn't certain enough to guess; maybe she would "borrow" a datapad after all. The muck was deep enough to cover her boot; she pulled her foot up, called the packet to her hand, stashed it better then started the climb back up. 

The sound went out. 

"That's hardly fair," Kylo Ren drawled. He was in his bath. 

Rey slipped and fell into the muck at the bottom of the pit. It turned out it was waist-deep when sitting down. 

She got up, swore copiously, and checked her pack - it was well-closed. She breathed a bit to calm herself. That had been close. 

Kylo had almost flung himself to catch her when he saw her fall, his heart leaping out of his throat. She hadn't made it to a great height yet, so the only harm done was to her laundry. He sat back down hurriedly, looking over the side of his dark wood tub: he could see a little around her now, it looked like she was down a hole in his floor. "All you alright?" he called to her. 

"The Force sure likes to joke with us," she answered. "I'm alright, just had a fright." She flung most of the mud off her hands, then dragged them across her torso. The smell was nauseating. She sloshed to the wall where she could find a trickle of water to rinse her hands, then she sloshed back to the rope. She started back up. 

Since the connection stayed open, she figured they might as well exchange information if only to keep her from ogling the mostly naked man before her - even if he was hidden by his tub, thank the maker for that small mercy. And what a sight he was. It was unfair. At this rate, she would see him naked before long for sure. 

Kylo was stuck in his bath, watching a mud-covered Rey pull herself up, watching the play of muscles on her arms and back. She was dirty and she was muscular and she was straining and grunting and he was starting to feel uncomfortable, though he tried to hide it. She had a streak of mud splashed onto her cheek; he wanted to wipe it off. When she came "level" with him, she paused to catch her breath, she did try to wipe it and it only made it worse. 

He interrupted his report: the next planet they would orbit was nasty enough not to drop the kids off there. "Rey," he attempted, grabbing a dry washcloth from a little pile, "here, take this. Wipe that off before you get an eye infection, or something." 

He moved to a kneeling position, hoping she was not looking down into the tub - he wasn't ready for that - and offered the cloth to her. She reached for it through the - space? gap? - between them and wiped most of the streak off, smiling at his attention and the silliness of the situation. She handed it back. He looked at her critically: there was still a spot. "Hey let me get that for you." He took the cloth, wet it, then leaned forward to gently wipe the rest off her face. This close he could smell her: she stank. He could see how she had wrapped the rope around one muscular thigh while she gave herself a little rest. He tried not to think of both muscular thighs, wrapped around... things. He blushed and fell back. "Sorry," he said, for no obvious reason. 

She looked at him. "Thank you, Kylo." That blush told her things she had best not dwell on lest her own face betray her. She tucked the semi-dirty washcloth in her tunic and resumed her climbing. 

"Rey, if you need, you can… bathe in my quarters. If you want. I can leave a schedule of when I'm on duty on my desk. You can take whatever you need too: food, tea. I have plenty." 

She kept climbing, not looking down at him. "Thank you, Kylo. I have to come by anyway." 

The bond faded before she made it to the height of the tunnel she had been aiming for. She wiped her hands clean with the still-damp cloth. She had seen his eyes, up close, a deep, rich, vibrant brown. With a promise of Ben Solo. 

** 

She had not cried out when she fell. She had not sat and cried in humiliation at being so dirty before her enemy. She had not let pride enrage her. She had checked herself and started right back up the rope. _She was that strong_. For a wild second he had imagined her climbing right into the bath with him. Now that she had faded away, he imagined it again. He closed his eyes and imagined peeling the filthy clothes off her. 

He was hard now. He was only mildly surprised. With Snoke gone, his body had woken up, as if from hibernation. He was rediscovering it. Maybe he shouldn't think of Rey of Jakku, Jedi-aspirant, in a sexual way, but apparently there was no helping it. He took himself in hand as he imagined washing the muck off her, washing her; every curve, every dip. He imagined her washing him. Her hands on him. After a while he shuddered and tensed finally and the relief was immense. 

** 

As she cleaned herself as best she could from a trickle of water from a rare leaky pipe, Rey told the children she could secure a transport off-ship for them. They just needed to find a suitable world. They looked at her in amazement: how was that possible? Was that what the Force could do? "Well no, not directly like that," she answered, looking at the transferred washcloth in her hand. 

It was hard to explain. It was hard to understand. Maybe Kylo felt like he owed her for helping him with Snoke? Maybe she had appealed to some memory of him being a child, abused and isolated? That had stirred him, she had felt it. She had felt it deeply, the Bond still giving her glimpses into his past. 

The Eldest children, Galad Taren, Edda Carron, and Kafir Trembley - this one a Twi'lek youth - considered their options. There were a lot of risks involved. 

She was still covered in muck. She decided to take Kylo up on his offer right away. 

* 

She padded silently through the laundry on her way to Kylo's quarters, looking for clean clothes. As she climbed up the Supreme Leader's laundry chute, first feeling for his presence with the Force, Rey wondered why more children did not escape that way. She would ask later. Once inside, she took her filthy boots off and left them on the floor, and started the bath. She heated some water for tea as well : a luxury.

While she waited, she padded to the drawing table, next to the pedestal that contained the mask and the saber. His schedule was written out in his neat calligraphy, as promised. She had more than a couple hours before he returned.

She sat down, took some blank paper and put down the names of all the officers that had "named" companions: chances were they had taken more than one. She added approximate dates too, in case details were needed when time came to met out justice. It amazed her that some of her new band of stowaways had survived for more than three years, hidden in the belly of the great ships. She thought of all the ones that had died when half the fleet had been taken out with the manoeuvre that had split the Supremacy. Not everyone on board those ships had been bloodthirsty officers. The children were proof of that. Finn was proof of that. The cooks, cleaners, clerks on board these miniature cities were proof of that. 

The bath was full. On her way in with her cup of tea she saw a pile on the chair near the door: a change of clothes. She had scrounged some on her way up, but here were more. He had had some clean clothes brought for her. 

There were leather boots, leather gloves, and some protective cover for her head with goggles like she had on Jakku. Included was another rope and a better grappling hook. She grabbed the immediately useful items and went in. 

Sinking into the bath, she tried to think herself in one of the shared tubs back on a Resistance base, or even on the great Mon Calamari ship, and not in the Supreme Leader's private bath, where she had seen him only a few hours before. 

She tried not to imagine him in here now. White scars and fresh training welts apparent on his huge shoulders. Long dark wavy hair wet and slicked back, revealing all of his face to her, scar and all. His soft, brown eyes inches from hers. His plush lips.

She quickly washed, hair included. Now she smelled like lavender, like him. She got out and dried, and dressed hurriedly in the dark, stealthy clothing she had available. She threw everything filthy in the chute but her boots. She finished her tea at the table, looking at what else he might have left for her. 

She found a charcoal portrait of her, smiling. Its quality startled her. A text accompanied it: 

> _She does not fear, this_
> 
> _Scavenger that prowls my life_
> 
> _But she smiles at me_

She looked at the time: she had more. 

She picked up some more tea. Half the fruit. She filled her pack, trying to balance need and greed. She looked at the display case containing her lightsaber again. Taking it now would feel like betrayal. She still had all the children to rescue before starting up hostilities with him again. She could move it around inside the case with the Force, as a message. 

Before she left, she went to his bedroom, on a hunch. She decided not to steal his hairbrush. She took one of his hair-ties - when did he tie his hair? 

And then she saw it. 

Barely a crack; an opening in the wall, right next to the starport. She went to it, opened it, it was a secret passageway. It was narrow, probably barely large enough for him. 

It led to an escape pod. 

_Join me, please._ The words still resonated in her head. Maybe it was easy for him to trust a Light-User, but she didn't trust herself. 

In the passageway was a vent large enough for her to crawl through. 

** 

It was an extensive list of names, and he suspected it was far from complete. As he cross-checked the names with the official roster, he found some of them had been posted to other ships, some had died on the ships that had been lost. He had a dozen he could check on immediately. 

Vicrul Ren was on that list. Ushar Ren. His Knights were a troublesome lot. He had sent them on a rogue goose-droid chase to keep them busy. He could inspect their quarters at least, for confirmation - and proof - of their transgressions. He supposed he would have to beat them all again. That was alright, he needed the challenge, anyway. 

Rey had refused his proposal to rule with him but she was making herself useful to him - if in an uncomfortable way - by challenging his perception of the First Order. By challenging his own moral code. By relieving some of his loneliness. He had trapped her, but now he left his door open to her, letting her choose the way forward. 

He had no Master and no Apprentice. The Sith code Snoke had tried to emulate was now as dead as he had wished it. The Jedi - the single Jedi - was old and tired. The Darkness refused him: killing his father had weakened him. The Force had sent him Light, but she refused him as well. 

He was caught somewhere in between, Supreme Leader of the First Order, responsible for it all. 

> _A door has opened._
> 
> _Just a crack, just so she can_
> 
> _wreak havoc in me_

She had cleaned after herself before leaving, but her presence lingered like residual heat.


	6. Zero-sum

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey looked him squarely in the eye: "The Supreme Leader Snoke is dead. Long live the Supreme Leader Kylo." 
> 
> He observed her for a moment : "Indeed," and said nothing more. 

He knew his Ren. "Take what was offered" was their motto, but it was a lie, since no one they encountered had refused them and lived. He had a firm enough grasp on half of them to impose restraint, but Ap'lek, Ushar and Vicrul were brutes. Maybe Ushar could broaden his twisted notion of respect to include crying women. 

The other two...would have to be castrated or killed. 

They had supported his claim as Supreme Leader and had helped put the leads of power into his hands. Now, with the pursuit of Jedi and Jedi-sympathizers abandoned, they were idle, a dangerous state for rabid beasts. He expected them back from their fake mission today. He had only hours to inspect their quarters; unusual, but necessary. 

Tomorrow, they would attack the Lannik system and hopefully submit it rapidly, without the need to destroy much infrastructure or massacre civilians. If what Rey told him was true, there would be new "passengers" on board the ship. He hoped to discreetly offload the ones he already had at the same time. 

To better coordinate plans with Rey he would offer her a datapad; he debated giving her a discreet comm link: he liked leaving her messages. He liked her visits to his quarters, it felt as though someone lived there. With him. 

He was turning into a romantic fool. 

He walked out, headed for Vicrul's quarters. Right away he could sense the Darkness it contained: here was a place where many had cried, and died. There were instruments of torture kept in orderly fashion on hooks in the bedroom. The bed was a sturdy four-posts construction with hooks and rings. A metal swing hung from the ceiling. Seeing these things first aroused him, reminding him of his early efforts to integrate into the team, but it was soon replaced by revulsion, as memories of bloodlust surfaced. He remembered the visceral terror he had felt when Snoke held him down naked, raking at his back with thick nails as sharp as talons. 

Snoke had not crossed that line, feeling it would break his prized apprentice. But the threat of that violation had cowed him just the same. When had come the time to do the same to his "defeated enemy", he had balked, and killed them instead. A small mercy. 

He checked the closets and cabinets: yes, he could see how one had been set up like a cage, but it was empty now. 

He made for Ap’lek’s quarters. 

This Ren had a different setup here: less torture, more lust. There were costumes arranged in a trunk. Small costumes. Too small costumes. He felt his stomach churn and had to choke back nausea. 

So both Knights would die. 

Ushar had a different setup. When Kylo understood what it was about, he barked a laugh. Well now, the Torturer enjoyed _receiving_ pain as much as giving it. Still: not on his ship. There were brothels for that sort of thing, it wasn't like they couldn't afford it. 

Just as he suspected, the other three's quarters didn't have such arrangements, but Rey had told him there was sharing among his Knights. It was telling that they didn't invite him and kept these activities secret. They knew he would forbid them. 

He was angry at himself for denying the violence of his Knights of Ren. He imagined the stories that Rey must have heard from the survivors, he imagined the fates of those who hadn't survived. For a moment he thought he could give the Knights he had condemned to Rey for her to punish them herself. 

The images that came to mind resembled his first imaginings of her after his defeat on Starkiller base. She had exulted in the Dark of her power, fierce and triumphant, and it was the first time he had become aware of her body. Desire to possess it, and the flame that inhabits it, had ignited in that moment. The perfect beauty of her face that had suddenly cut across his own, a slash forever disfiguring him. If she had killed him then, after the murder of his father, it would have felt like deliverance. 

He got a hold on his unruly thoughts. Rey was an aspirant Jedi. He was the Jedi-killer. He was caught between desire and respect. 

And yet. 

And yet she looked at him with… with interest. 

> _"She confuses me,_
> 
> _she confuses my senses._
> 
> _Cool Light. Burning Flame" he mused._

** 

In the Lannik system there was a small planet rich with a rarely used mineral whose properties they had managed to exploit for the comms systems. The ruling government had resisted their offer more out of principal - who would _willfully_ surrender to the First Order? - than any actual means to fight them. There would be a small show of resistance, a few skirmishes, a flag planted into the soil, and then the contracts would be drawn up. Meanwhile, Kylo hoped to donate enough credits and material help to a local orphanage so they could offload the _Steadfast_ 's stowaways. 

Rey looked at the locations proposed on the datapad she had "stolen". Dabella Tross was in labor, the father blissfully unaware. Men played at war planet-side, in a token political move, while their fruit was delivered in filth and pain by women they did not even know. More companions would be taken today, it was certain, only to be thrown away when they became inconvenient. 

Rey helped as much as she could: she found that she could alleviate the pain of the mother and monitor the baby's lifesigns with the Force. No matter: the child would not live. Once it was expulsed from the child's body, Galad Taren wrapped it in a blanket and took it away. When she came back empty-handed a few minutes later, her face was hard, her eyes cold. Then they softened as she soothed Dabella through the after-birth. Edda helped with the cleansing. Rey had witnessed a birth and a death in the same breath. 

When it was all over, she helped the band travel to the hangar where the transport had been readied. At the foot of the maintenance access panel was the junior officer flight suit she was to don to disguise their escape. Galad, her son, and Kafir Tremblay had chosen to stay behind to find the new companions that would hopefully escape. 

They managed to board discreetly. The flight plan had been pre-approved, the ship fueled. There were a few crates of supplies on board, clothing, bacta, academic material for the establishment she would choose. She had bonds for a few thousand credits. It was all made to look terribly official. 

The little war had been launched from other docking bays, so no one interfered with her takeoff. She steered clear away from the flight of Tie-fighters that weren't really doing anything besides looking menacing. She saw no sign of the Resistance anywhere. The cease-fire was still in effect. It had been less than a month since Crait. 

They found the location of the establishment she had contacted the day before, it was far from the main conflict, in a temperate area. Before she let the children out, she walked the perimeter, glad for the fresh air and all the things that made a planet a home: a sky, greenery, rain. Birds. She met with the Director: a young man named Toben M'gireen who was a war vet, as his colorfully decorated prosthetic arm announced. Children ran in a courtyard, they were mostly human or human-variant, but she counted a few other species as well. Some that were more curious came to greet her: it was a mix of laughing and quiet, somber children. 

Some of the older ones looked at her uniform wistfully: "When I grow up, I wanna be a pilot!" they announced loudly, and the director shooed them away with his robotic hand. 

Rey - junior officer Kira Solo now (of course he would) - fetched Edda Carron from the transport, while an older girl who had been born on a planet guided the others to walk around the little ship, nausea threatening to ruin the greatest day of their lives. 

Inside the school-of-sorts, they saw what the facilities were like. It seemed to be the right place. She looked at Edda before marking the coordinates down on her datapad. Edda looked up at the sky again. There were clouds in the sky. She nodded, a lump in her throat. 

The pact was concluded: credits, people and goods were off-loaded. There would be scheduled and surprised inspections during the first year. 

As assistants and teachers moved everything and everyone into their new homes, Toben looked at Lieutenant Solo. 

"Where did you say these kids are from? One of them obviously gave birth only a few hours ago, but there's no baby." 

Rey looked him squarely in the eye: "The Supreme Leader Snoke is dead. Long live the Supreme Leader _Kylo Ren_." 

He observed her for a moment : "Indeed," and said nothing more. 

* 

She walked back to the transport. She had a hyperdrive-equipped ship. She could find and rejoin the Resistance. She could at least contact them. She could fly away to the farthest reaches of the outer rim and never come back. 

She should come back on board the _Steadfast_ and repeat this operation until all the foundlings were saved. 

** 

He felt her presence before she walked in. She had the grace to knock before pushing open the secret panel. She had come back. 

It was bad luck that she should find him like this. 

"Eleven kids, Kylo- Ben- Ren- I don't know anymore. We saved eleven- what the _hell_ happened to you!?" Her smile disappeared like it had been struck off. 

He was covered in blood and offal. He had just come in from the main battle. He had barely taken his gloves and boots off, preparing to shower. His hair and his eyes were still wild with bloodlust. Darkness washed off him in waves. 

She looked at him, frozen in shock. 

"You went into battle. Yourself. The Supreme Leader. Into a skirmish." Disappointment now. 

"It was important to _them_. And I had to work off some energy." It sounded lame even to him. 

"While I carried _eleven_ children to an orphanage and paid them to take care of your officer's "companions", or offspring... _you_ went on a killing spree." 

He stood there, stopped in the middle of taking his tunic off, saying nothing. 

"I helped a _thirteen-year-old_ give birth in a dusty air duct today. Then the child was choked to death because there was _no way_ the mother would love it. She didn't even want to take it with her to the orphanage because she didn't want it to _live_." 

The tears came. She wiped them. Then she marched right up to him and _slapped_ him as hard as she could. 

He almost combusted with Rage. It took every bit of his control, jaw and fists clenching and shaking, to not grab her and _take_ her right there and then. She would not be a victim, not as _strong_ as she was, not with so much Rage of her own, but she would lose to him in an _almost_ fair fight. 

Instead, he stood stock-still, breathing heavily through his nose. 

She walked past him to the locked glass case, ignoring his internal struggle. She picked up one of the purple Geodes and smashed the case open. She reached in and grabbed the Lightsaber. 

"This is a _Jedi_ Lightsaber. I'm taking it." And she walked out the way she had come in. 

He stared at the broken glass for a moment. When he could move again he picked up the pieces as best as he could before continuing stripping and finally washing the battle off him. 

_She had come back._

She could be a worse Master than Snoke. 

* 

In the middle of the night, he woke up to some of the worst nightmares he had ever had. Then he got up and killed Ap'lek and Vicrul.


	7. Allies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "So rare, Force-sensitives; it must be terribly lonely. And you barely a woman at all. It's no wonder you're so important to him."

Most often, a "companion" would escape by finally slipping its shackles and running for the laundry chute, or struggling free while they were taken to an airlock, or to another taker's quarters during a "companion swap". More experienced captors would weld metal bars to block exits, or knock-out their companions before moving them outside their quarters. 

Rey moved between the walls with Lauss Galad, going from one officer's quarters to another, trying to free as many as they could find. If their usual access was blocked, she looked for escape passages like the one in the Supreme Leader's quarters; only the very top brass had those, and she did discover a set of shackles welded to the bottom of one General's closet, but no one was in there. They found five the first day, and brought them to the rest of the band. 

On the second day, she heard the news about the disappeared Ren while waiting for a detachment of troopers to pass by. 

Lauss Galad and her freed five more. Now she needed to get them off-ship. They were still orbiting Lannik 2, where six of the girls had been taken. It felt as though no progress had been made. 

By the end of the day, she stepped on her pride and with great effort, forced the Bond to connect them. 

He looked up sharply at her and left the room he was in, to one more private. She heard him sigh with relief. 

"Hello, Kylo Ren," she said, her polite greeting biting off the last bit, "I freed nine girls, and one boy," 

The sarcastic note was not lost on him. "My officers are nervous. They're not saying anything, but I can tell. Some are angry." 

"I heard some of the Ren have disappeared." 

"I killed two." It was such a dirty agreement between them, that he should do the killing where she could not. She finally saw it. 

Her tone softened. "There are a few more companions I wasn't able to get to. I need to take the ones we saved off-ship, but many were taken from this system." 

If she showed up in First Order colors to give them back, it would be an admission of the kind of traffic that was going on. He had imposed restraint on taking "conscripts" this time, to Hux's and the other senior staff's surprise. They hadn't known Kylo Ren as anything but as Snoke's vicious attack dog. The change in leadership was a constant challenge to them. 

"I need to rescue the ones on the other ships too. And on the stations," she continued. 

The situation was complex. 

Ideally, every slave held by the First Order, officially or non-officially, would be freed at once. Every trafficker involved would be prosecuted - maybe executed - in the weeks that followed. Official statements acknowledging fault, followed by revised policy on slavery and trafficking would be made public. 

Ideally. 

In practice, there would be putsches - certainly Kylo's resignation or execution - followed by either dissolution or - more likely - a doubling down of the more rabid elements of the Order to transform it into yet another criminal syndicate. 

"You moved too fast, Rey. You acted in anger." How was he going to contain the situation now? 

"I'll give you the names of a few people I can trust.” He told her. ”Some are medical staff. The first is Dr. Indah Cylkarr. Be discreet." He looked up as a junior staffer found him where he had been hiding for their conversation, nodded, closed his eyes, and, with effort, closed the connection. 

* 

She moved back to where Galad Taren sat, still soothing one of the Newlings. After a moment her thoughts coalesced around what they needed: time. Time before word got out and a purge was started. 

"Galad. Can we convince the new ones to keep silent about their ordeal? For a few weeks?" 

"Rey. Some of what these kids have been through...You'd have a hard time convincing them  _ to _ talk about it. Can you convince this Toben M'gireen to keep quiet?" 

Rey only cared about getting the most children out. If the exposure caused the First Order to implode once scandal hit the Holonets, so be it. 

"He looked like a good man. Like he cares." 

* 

She wore the junior officer uniform to the medical bay where she could find Dr. Cylkarr. She was in luck, the M.O. was soon available. 

"Lieutenant Solo, eh? He's developing a sense of humor." The blue, almond-eyed doctor said in the privacy of her little office. They both knew who he was. 

"The girl is still in intensive care. He got her just in time. I thought she was dead." 

Rey learned that Kylo had walked in carrying a badly beaten Lannik girl wrapped in a heavy cloak during the graveyard shift two shifts ago. 

" 'Beaten' is a euphemism. I've never seen him so rattled." The woman paused, looking at Rey with quick appraisal. "That man, when it comes to girls or children..." 

The doctor had treated Kylo Ren multiple times for "punishment by Snoke". The young man's obvious despair always clutched at her mother's heart. Any creature so badly beaten would become vicious. When she'd heard of Snoke's demise, she'd been the first to cheer. And with Kylo coming to her for help...well she was happy to assist. 

"He told me to come to you. I need to move another ten rescues off-ship. Like I did three days ago. I'll need to get to the other ships soon." 

"Ah yes, Kira. Ten more? None in such a bad state, I think?" She was only mildly surprised by the news. Doctors know a lot more about their patients than they let on. She thought for a few minutes, an idea forming in her professional mind. "Maybe this time disguised as a medical evacuation? A virus? Yes, that would work. A deadly, or at least very uncomfortable virus. Extremely contagious. I can get you a Medevac uniform for that. You can probably use that alibi for quite a few trips until someone calls you out on it. I'll pull on some strings. How do I reach you?" 

"Through him. We have our own ways of communication." 

The doctor looked at Rey again. "Are you... What do they call it, Force-sensitive?" 

"Yes. A late-bloomer, though." It was Kylo Ren's interrogation that had unlocked her potential; to her, and his, and the entire Galaxy's surprise. 

"So rare, Force-sensitives; it must be terribly lonely. And you barely a woman at all. It's no wonder you're so important to him." 

_ You're nothing...but not to me. _

She did have a place in this story.  _ His _ story. 

* 

> _ I am torn apart,  _
> 
> _ by tiny, callused fingers  _
> 
> _ torn open to her  _

The drawings were studies of hands. That crooked pinky from a badly set break was obviously hers. Another sheet had practice drawings of his hands. Ben's hands. She took that one, folded it in four and tucked it against her heart. 

She wanted to leave him something in return, but she had nothing. She was still a Scavenger: everything she had was already his. Maybe some words for him, next time. If there was a next time. She was moving out this cycle. 

** 

Toben M'gireen noticed the change in uniform and in setup when Rey stepped off the medevac transport. He recognized her. They looked at each other for a moment before he motioned for his staff to transfer the people and the cargo to the appropriate buildings. He had a look at the bed-ridden girl he was accepting. Then he invited Rey inside for tea. 

"How many more do you need to evacuate?" he asked her simply. 

"Hundreds. Over a week. I'm pretty sure the fleet will leave this system by the end of this week." 

The Lannik mines were an important resource contract for the First Order. For both parties. 

"I'll see what I can do. I have friends, beneficiaries. I'll see how they can help." 

"The more discreet we are, the more I can get out before the Purges start. When they start, revealing the First Order's corruption will destroy its "Law and Order" reputation and reveal it as just another criminal organization." 

"What about your precious Supreme Leader?" 

Rey hadn't expected the question. She pondered on it for a few seconds. "He will have to choose between power and hope." 

"If you know where the fleet is headed next, I can draw up a list of contacts for you. Good people." 

*** 

The remaining Knights said nothing, but the stakes were high. It took everything he had to keep his title of Master. Everytime he accepted their challenge he was reminded of how he had gotten the title in the first place. Killing Ren. Killing Voe. Bleeding his own Kyber. He was a monster. Killing two of his own had felt good. 

Voe, who had been as angry as him, who was just  _ like _ him, if not for that cursed Skywalker blood. Voe, his closest rival, who during one of their confused struggles had... 

He remembered Luke finding them, shock on his face, completely unable to manage the situation. The Jedi doctrine was shit on relations. 

He made it to the med bay and his most trusted doctor took him right away. 

"I haven't seen you this beaten up in a while. I expect them to come in too?" After a few minutes of scanning and painful prodding, she breathed a heavy sigh of discontent. "All right, there's too much damage, I can't believe you walked in. Into the tank with you." She frowned when he protested. "Don't worry, it's just for one cycle. Just to get the worst of it, and your nose.  _ Maker _ , you should replace your helmet." 

Kylo hated the tank, but there was no arguing with the doctor. He had to trust she would keep him safe. He trusted her with many things. She told him how she had helped Rey. He thanked her again. 


	8. Little Struggles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Hux was really upset with you, called it an "Act of War" actually. Those were his favorite boots." He smirked, remembering the look of fury the redheaded general had tried unsuccessfully to hide. 

Dr. Cylkarr greeted her. They exchanged short lists of names. Rey was just stopping by before picking up the last foundlings and jumping ship to the _Absolution_ , an incongruously named survivor of the Holdo manoeuvre. "It will be hard to communicate with him now. I don't have that much control with the Force yet." 

The doctor bit her lip before announcing: "He's here now, if you want to see him. He's in a bacta tank, though." 

Naked except for a loin cloth, Kylo Ren looked strangely at peace. Floating as if in a womb, the gentle agitation sweeping through his hair showed a bruised but relaxed face. He had broken ribs and deep gouges across his left thigh and arm. She could see his feet: large and strangely human. She put a hand on the tank, looking into the face of a man she felt the Force promised her if only she could salvage him. "What happened to him?" she asked softly. 

"His Ren are upset with him. Many people are upset with him. He barely kept his title." 

_What could be worth this_? "He's too powerful for me to save him," Rey whispered. She turned to the doctor: "You healed the other Knights?" 

"Of course. That is the oath I took. That is my heart. I will heal anyone who comes to me. Even Ren." 

* 

The last quarters they checked they knew they were too late: streaks of blood ran down the sides of the laundry, the bar solid near the opening. Lauss wanted to squeeze through anyway and Rey waited anxiously. He came back, alone. They picked up the rest of the survivors and made for the _Absolution_ , where they were expected by the M.O. there - for evacuation of those very contagious patients. 

It took nearly a whole shift to find them. Rey immediately started taking names and cross-checking on her datapad to find who else might be on board. She got the current band ready for transport: Galad and her son Lauss agreed to leave, they had done their part. Kafir Trembley - the Twi'lek teenager - would stay on board with her for now. She left them two blasters she had pilfered, in case hunter-droids were deployed to kill them. 

This time, they went to an Orphanage recommended by M'gireen, so as not to overburden the first one. The director, Hannah Kempletri, told them she would trace the original families of the kids, as soon as the time for secrecy had passed. M'gireen had proposed that option for those that recovered enough to live with their trauma. Those that had been sold into slavery would remain with them. 

Back on ship, exhaustion finally took over Rey's resolve and she let herself rest in the safe place where the band had last squatted. Kafir stood guard. 

** 

The first thing Kylo Ren did once he was out of the bacta tank was make a surprise visit on the _Absolution_ . Hux would accompany him - whether he wanted him or not, apparently - for proper respect of protocols. On the way, Hux informed him that the Scavenger had still not been found, though he was certain she was still on board the _Steadfast_. He wouldn't say what proof he had, but Kylo had gleaned from his mind that it had something to do with a pair of boots. Kylo took pity on him and told him that he was himself trying to find her, if not for the same reasons. 

Once he was left in his distinguished guest quarters he tried to contact Rey. He realized she was asleep, so he went into a meditation trance, extending his senses as far as he could reach within the ship. There were at least three trapped children in his vicinity, making his stomach churn with anguish. Ben Solo rose to the surface of his mind, as sensitive as ever. He pushed him back down. Not _now_. 

_Yes, now_. 

He got up and made for the nearest location. There was a moment before the door opened and he pushed past the half-naked man at the door, stunning him for simplicity's sake. The man crumpled just inside the door, which he quickly shut. When he found her, he knelt and told her to quickly get dressed. She was terrified of him, but she dressed quickly enough. 

Emotions roiled inside him. He had been impetuous just as he had reproached to Rey. What was he to do with this girl? He should have gone to meet with the M.O. recommended to him first - a doctor Giosk. He should have waited to coordinate with Rey so she could come pick her up by whatever passage led to this area of the ship. He himself was too large to wander around between walls. He had a flash of giving the girl a weapon so she could kill her captor and he could let Military Police take care of the matter. Such things did happen after all, that was why there were reglementations and laws to manage them. There was a whole section on taking personal slaves. With detailed penalties. He looked at the girl again: her huge eyes told him such an act would not help her. 

He inspected the laundry chute: there it was: a metal bar restricting its access. He found the cuffs bolted to the bottom of the closet. This officer was an experienced slave-keeper. He asked the girl her age, how long had she been here. Her name. 

When the man woke up he dragged him to the closet and locked him into his own cuffs. The miscreant didn't even make a sound when he pissed himself. 

The girl was tall. He found some nondescript clothing for her, commed the M.O. he had on board this ship and they walked to the nearest medbay while he mind-tricked anyone he came across on the way. 

Once she was safe he found a 'fresher and retched up his supper. He came back out to the sight of a very grateful Dr. Giosk. The girl was lightly sedated and being examined, proof would be collected. He asked the Officer a few questions: yes, "Kira Solo" had come by. Yes, she would help anyway she could. She had had to treat a few officers for obvious bitemarks and she was certain they hadn't been lovebites. Yes, she would maintain complete discretion while the "operation" - for this could be called one - was active. 

He walked back to his guest quarters. He felt something very fragile inside him was in need of care. Instead of trying to suppress this weakness, he let it grow. He felt it could grow into something strong. Something he would need. 

** 

As the Supreme Leader and his retinue walked the corridors on their way to the board room, a panel opened unexpectedly before them. Out came Rey. Everyone stopped in mid step. Her, him, Hux, a Captain Cardinal whom Hux knew well, two others and even the stormtroopers froze in a moment of surprised shock. 

"Kriff!" yelped Rey. 

"Get her!" cried Hux. 

"Fuck!" groaned Kylo Ren. 

Everything moved again. Rey pushed the panel closed and darted down the corridor, Stormtroopers in hot pursuit. 

"What's he doing? He's going after her?!" Kylo heard Cardinal ask in disbelief as he started running, his heart suddenly pounding. 

She was fast and lithe, and turned down side corridors without hesitation. When 'troopers started blasting at her, she lit her Lightsaber and whipped around long enough to divert a few bolts, injuring one of the troopers while the others dove out of harm's reach. Ren had to freeze a ricochet in mid-air. She had a blaster at her hip but she wasn't using it. 

Her riposte gave her enough time to reach the corridor to the hangar bay where his Upsilon-class command shuttle was docked. 

Another detachment of troops joined the first, and Kylo Ren suddenly felt like he was running with his pack, in hot pursuit of the blue Light beam darting before him. It was an exhilarating chase: would he get to her first? Would he finally catch her? 

At this level they were fairly above the bottom of the hangar where sat his shuttle; she would have to climb down or turn and follow the edge corridor to one of the side passages; he saw ahead of her some more guards, just now realizing who was running towards them. 

Rey had practiced a few things over the last week of taking dangerous paths while exploring the ships; she had refined some of her old evasion and exploring techniques as a scavenger. 

When she reached the end of the edge corridor she pushed with a pulse of Force and leapt up. 

And up. 

And over. 

She made it across the narrow hangar bay where she landed with a roll and kept running. 

Kylo had no time to think, he couldn't think anyway, his predator instincts had taken over. He Force-pushed the stunned troopers out of his way and when he reached the very edge he leapt in turn. 

For a moment he was flying, over his shuttle and barely avoiding the ceiling of the bay. His landing was not so graceful and his left knee hit hard on the opposite corridor floor, the sudden pain briefly stopping his pursuit. He looked up in time to see her open an access door and slip in. He used the pain to ignite his Rage and pushed himself up to follow her. When he entered the passageway, he shut the door behind him. It was just them now. He closed his eyes to feel where she had gone. There, he felt her signature, like a scent for his senses alone to hound. 

By now Rey knew of passageways only engineers and maintenance crew had knowledge of on this class of ships; ahead was a succession of turbo-lift shafts: she leapt across each one, careful not to get hit by a lift. At the last one, she jumped onto the roof of one that was descending, riding it a few decks down before jumping off into the next series of maintenance tunnels. 

His every sense awakened, he was hot on her trail, seeing her just out of reach and smelling her musk as effort made her sweat fear and determination, mingling into an exciting cocktail. His movements were precise, his breath was coming under control. He could hear the echo of her grunting and panting ahead of him. His heart beat like it had on Starkiller base, the dim lights of the safety tunnels almost the same as that moonlight night had been. This time she would not get away. He made it to the last of four turbolift shafts and followed, sliding down the ladder until he reached the same level tunnel she had continued into. 

The end was blocked by a huge, deadly looking ventilation fan protected by a narrow weaved metal grate. A dead-end. Unless she managed to bust into a small horizontal shaft just before it. He heard the metal bend and sprinted towards her. The grate flew off and she ducked in. 

He dove in after her. 

With a supreme lunge he reached out and his fist wrapped around her ankle in an iron grip. He caught her. He grasped her with both hands and tried to pull her out of the conduit, but she was holding on to some rail or other for dear life and would not budge so he crawled _over_ her instead, to pry her loose. He reached a wrist, pulled at it, grinding the bones so she would let go of her anchor. Her grip loosened and slipped. He made for her other wrist. 

She fought back, her own instincts giving her strength: she pushed at him, slapped him, pulled his hair. She heaved with her whole body, but there was no way to push him off, the space barely holding them both. They were in full-body contact, the Bond threatening to open at any moment. They breathed each other's breath. When she bit his arm, his hand reached for her throat, squeezed the airway. She suddenly stopped struggling and he immediately softened his grip. 

By now he was uncomfortably hard and the next shift would make it unavoidably obvious. She moved under him. 

He grunted, breathing heavily, red-faced, eyes closing briefly. His blood was up, and his emotions were high. 

She moved again and he shuddered. She looked at him with sharp eyes. "Is that? Is that what I think it is?" 

Damn. "Obviously. Now let go and come with me." 

"Where?" 

He was tired from the chase, his knee hurt and his neck ached from holding his head up to look into her face. He let it drop against her, to rest a moment. "I don't know", he whispered in her ear. 

After a moment, she relaxed. Her other hand abandoned her grip on the rail and fell on his head, resting there, curling in his hair. "I know you don't know," she said softly. 

They lay there a while, Supreme Leader and Scavenger, a galactic power struggle reduced to the intimacy of two lonely people pressed against each other in a narrow air duct on a city-sized star-ship. She traced the shell of his ear. 

"Thank you," he finally said. She wasn't sure why. 

"For letting me know about those children," he added. 

She had decided to trust him with their lives, and had made him responsible for their safety. It had been a gift, really. She had gifted him with a path to redemption even if she had little patience. 

Her touch changed to a caress. 

"Thank you for saving them. And thank you for declaring a cease-fire." 

"About that: your sabotage is making the cease-fire hard to maintain." He pushed his head up to look at her, "Hux was really upset with you, called it an "Act of War" actually. Those were his favorite boots." He smirked, remembering the look of fury the redheaded general had tried unsuccessfully to hide. 

Another pause while they caught their breath. His arms were about her almost like an embrace. She felt a warmth start in her core. If only he'd come with her instead. 

"Why are we enemies?" she finally asked him. " _Still_. Now that Snoke is dead." 

Because he didn't know any other way to live. He thought of everything he'd done. The things he'd done instead of dying. He thought of his father. 

"Because... because I'm a monster." He loosed his grip on her wrist. 

She looked at him, a mix of compassion and desire on her face. Suddenly she cupped his cheek and kissed him. Their lips touched in a promise of softness only a woman can give. "Please stop being a monster, Ren. I can't give myself to a monster." With that, she squirmed from under him and escaped, while he lay there, stupefied. 

He put his hand where she had caressed his cheek, felt the scar there. Barely a fortnite had passed since the Light had found him again. He had been pressed right up against her. She had touched his skin. 

It hadn't burned him this time. 

He had a _choice_ again.


	9. Kylo's turn.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kylo rummaged around, finding the girl's underwear. He put them in the captain's hands. 
> 
> "We will find everyone of these fuckers, on every ship. But we have to surprise them."

Kylo Ren was not lost. The feeling of her kiss lingered on his lips. If he was taking a longer route than he’d wanted, it was as good a surprise inspection as it could be, and it gave him time to think. 

He found there were, indeed, filthy areas on a ship. When he found an access hatch large enough to let him through, it was in one of the "dead zones" Rey had hinted at. He stood a moment, covered in grime, looking for a working console that would show him a map. He sensed the boys before he heard them. 

"I'm with Rey," he said aloud. The words seemed strange. Strange in the right way. 

He heard them discuss: "Rey Kylo, yeah. But I don't know who this is. " 

"Could be a helper. Must be a helper." This voice was much younger. 

Rey Kylo. He shouldn't tell them he was  _ The Kylo _ . He lifted his unarmed hands in the air: "I'm Ben. Ben Solo."  _ Yes he was _ . Here, now, as Rey's helper in this crucial mission, he was Ben Solo. 

He turned around slowly towards the voices. He saw them then, one a Twi'lek teen, the other a human boy of maybe seven. Too old to have been "Born-Free". He felt for their minds with the Force, but remained on the very surface, afraid of what he could find further in: they were suspicious, of course. He used the Force to radiate trustworthiness; a dirty trick, but he would earn it. 

“You’re the Solo that gave his name for Kira Solo, for the uniforms.” The elder boy mellowed markedly. 

"Yes," his lack of imagination had paid off. He remembered something about a twi'lek boy: "Are you, Kafir? Trembley?" Major Trembley was on the list. Once they had rescued all the children they could find, the arrests and prosecutions would start. 

Ben stood immobile a moment more: he felt an uncomfortable pressure inside his skin. From here, he could find the area's exit and make it back to his First Order duties and the rest of his day. 

Or he could accept the discomfort. 

He sat down. "Tell me what you can," he asked. "I'd like to know better how I can help." 

** 

Rey was hot. As she worked her way from one set of suspected quarters to another, trying to rescue as many young people as she could, she had to focus to keep her mind off the promise she had made to the Jedi-killer: herself. It was the only thing she had to offer, and it was painfully obvious it was the only thing he wanted: companionship,  _ attachment _ . The very thing the Jedi denied them. A thing Snoke had demanded to the exclusion of everyone else except the Knights of Ren: a twisted, jealous, destructive enslavement. 

Just now, he had caught her and let her go. Again. 

_ The belonging you seek is ahead... there is one who might still come back _ , Maz Kanata had said. 

Never mind that she had fallen asleep and woken up warm and moist to the image of him in various states of undress many times over the past days. Never mind that his dark almond eyes held a promise of something so deep she would drown in it and never come back to herself again. Never mind that she had reached Ben Solo at last. She just had to pry him out of Kylo Ren's armor. 

She snapped out of it. A false move here could have dire consequences. Like now. 

Now she had killed a man. 

She called down to the ones waiting for her down the chute: "I'm alright." She had had to cut through two metal bars to reach the hatch. "I have to do something, you'll have to go back without me." 

When the girl stopped crying, she picked her up and helped her down to join the four others waiting below. They left without a sound. 

She had let herself be surprised into action. He must have heard her when she had knocked the book to the ground. She had wanted to knock him out but had broken his neck instead. Now he lay on the floor like a rag doll, eyes dead in his upturned face. 

This was one of those rare and strange cases of someone in need of companionship for loneliness' sake. She looked around but found no evidence of sexual exploitation. There were books of letters and arithmetics. There were toys and paper and colors. The old man missed having a family. 

It was still wrong, but he didn't deserve death. 

She reached out for Ben Solo. 

_ *I killed someone,* _ she told him. 

Something in the way her voice caught in her throat told him she needed him for herself. * _ I'll come to you as soon as I can, _ * he told her. 

He had made it back to his guest quarters quickly enough once the boys had pointed him in the right direction. A few maintenance staff and troopers had crossed his path, some showing surprise at his dirty, bedraggled look, but he just marched on, pensive. In his quarters he had time to wash and change and sit at his desk - for a change - before she reached him through their inexplicable Bond. When he stepped out, he bumped into Hux and that crimson-armored Captain… Cardinal? 

"Ah. Good. Supreme Leader, we rescheduled the meeting to the next cycle, if you-" Hux knew him better than most, especially as a rival, and he could tell Kylo Ren was brooding. "She got away again." 

"She did. She can fit into the smallest spaces. It took me hours to find my way back. A real maze between these walls." 

"Don't lose hope, Sir; you'll get the girl eventually." Kylo looked sharply at his top general who immediately shuttered his face with a frown at odds with the soothing tone he had used just seconds ago. Was it that obvious? 

He continued to march to the lonely old officer's quarters, then stopped. Hux and his escort were following him. 

Then Hux let out a surprised yelp: "Wait. What is she doing on-board the  _ Absolution _ ?!" 

Kylo turned to him. "That's why I'm here. To find her. I... felt her jump ship. She must have slipped aboard one of the cargo transports." There were always a few exchanges between near ships: equipement, personel, weapons, whatnot. 

Hux was silent, thinking. Kylo could almost hear the relay switches in his mind trying to connect information together. "Why though? We expected her to sabotage weapons systems, or communications, or poison the water. But apart from ... annoyances, she's done little of that. If she could travel between ships, she could go anywhere. Why board another ship? It can't be just to irritate some officers." 

Kylo looked at his closest rival, trying to gauge how far he could trust him. If he told him, a massive, coordinated operation could be started immediately; but considering who would have to participate in it, it could go horribly wrong. 

"Have you ever gone to a brothel, Hux?" 

"To a ... no, of course not. Disgusting! Filthy! Besides, there are plenty of proper young women to choose from at Balls and official events, no?" This was a trick question, and Hux was at a loss of where it had come from. Was it a request from the Supreme Leader? He had changed since the demise of his Master… maybe he needed some  _ company _ ? 

"And you, Captain... Cardinal?" Kylo turned to the red-armored man beside him. 

The man straightened under the scrutiny, his eyes bright. Ren felt an honest strength coming from him. 

"Yes sir, I have, during leave of absence with my squadron. It's customary after big battles." He considered, then added: "but I stopped." 

Kylo raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Why did you stop?" 

"The crying, sir. It haunted me. It's not right." 

Kylo gave the man a curt nod. He had found another ally for Rey. 

"Hux, you are dismissed until the meeting. Captain, come with me." Both men came to attention; Hux saluted before leaving. 

He marched away. He had obviously failed this test, though not by much. He would start his own investigation into what the Officers that the scavenger girl had "inconvenienced" had in common. 

Ren led the Captain to the quarters he had burst into on the eve. They walked in, closed the door, stood silent. "The crying haunts me too, Captain." He walked to the bedroom closet, opened it, revealing the mostly naked man chained to the bottom, sitting in his own filth. While Cardinal stared in disbelief, Kylo rummaged around, finding some of the girl's underwear. He put them in the captain's hands. 

"We will find everyone of these fuckers, on every ship. But we have to surprise them." 

The look of appreciation on the middle-aged captain's face, as it quickly transformed into loyal resolve, was worth more than any backhanded compliment Snoke had ever addressed him. 

"Yes sir. We will. I'll take this one to the brig." 

* 

He took a breath before walking into the quarters she had called him to. She was sitting on a chair, looking at the corpse of the old man, her eyes still red and puffy. She told him the story, how she had overreacted. How she wasn't sure what she could have done. 

He commed the M.O.; they would pass the death off as an accidental fall. They threw all the toys and children's clothing into the waste disposal. He walked her to a maintenance hatch out in the corridor before they parted. "Oh. I need to know where the fleet is headed so I can contact the next orphanage." 

"I'll let you know as soon as we decide, either by Force or by paper." 

She reached for him and hugged him, whispering "Thank you". Surprised, he cautiously hugged her back, kissing the top of her head. Then she disappeared into the little accessway and he closed the hatch. He stood for a moment, wondering at the simplicity of the gesture. The humanity. One moment he had been hounding her as she ran from him. One moment he had caught her savagely and been nearly overwhelmed with desire. One moment he had let her slip away, a promise on her lips. And now…

Now was not the time for them. 

He sighed, walking towards the Officer's mess for a meal before the next scheduled meeting. There were at least ten more ships to clear; the task seemed insurmountable, even as allies appeared on his path to help shoulder the burden. He let his compassion for the boys he had listened to carry him over his doubts. They needed him. He would not fail them. 

* 

"We met your friend today!" Kafir told her excitedly. "He's such a big, strong man; he must be as big as the Supreme Leader himself!" 

Rey blinked at them, Dr Giosk was not a big, strong man. "Who do you mean?" 

"Ben Solo! He'd gotten lost in one of the safe areas, he knew my name, so we sat down with him. He wanted to… to listen to us." 

Rey thought she could catch a couple hours sleep before moving this lot out, but this news woke her right up. "You met him? You sat down with him?" 

The two boys took turns telling her about their interaction. How the man had patiently listened to their stories, nodding, sometimes asking them about their homes, or about how they had survived; how many purges they had lived through, or knew about. 

"He looked really upset, but he believed us. He told us we were the strongest boys he had ever met, and that we would get to Hava today or tomorrow." 

"He looked like he might have been one of us at one time," said the Twi'lek, pensive. Then he fell over, as if pushed. Blood spattered over Rey's tunic. Another bolt shot towards them. She saw it then: a hunter-seeker droid. She sprang to her feet, igniting her Lightsaber in her right hand while the left came up to block the next volley of blaster bolts. 

" _Run_!" she yelled, and she charged the thing advancing towards her. 


	10. Overflow

The thing floated in the air, surprisingly fast. It shot at her again, and at the younger boy trying to help Kafir up. She let out a battle cry as she reached it, swiped at it, missed. She was close enough to keep its attention focused on her while the boys made it to an escape shaft. It took her longer than she expected to take it down. When she finally sliced it apart, she plunged into the shaft to get to their squatting area as fast as she could : there would be others. On her way she overtook her wards and passed them, crawling forward as fast as she could. 

She was not fast enough. Seeing the inert bodies, Rage burst from her in a sweeping wave that washed away reason. The three drones she saw there were crushed into sparking, screeching scrap. She fell on her knees near the closest rescue : dead; she moved to the next, another loss. 

Only four girls had survived. The blaster she had left with them lay on the floor, useless. 

Word had gotten out. 

She reached for the med kits and patched the survivors as best as she could. There was no way she could sneak as many around to the med bay, especially the Twi'lek and the Lannik. They made for the shuttle bay, half-walking, half-carrying the wounded. 

It seemed to take a long time before they were able to board the Medevac shuttle, it was the middle of the day-cycle, people were milling about. She quickly dressed in her grey flight officer uniform, caught her datapad and made for the door to request permission to take off. Zana, the oldest girl, stopped her: "You have blood on your throat." That had been close. 

She mind-tricked _the shit_ out of the two techs checking their records. They would have migraines for _days_. But they made it off ship, and onto Lannik 2 again, where she landed at Kempletri's Home for the Homeless. It was the middle of the night. 

** 

The Supreme Leader didn't usually eat at one of the common tables in the Office's mess: he had his own reserved table away from the bustle, if he graced the Officer's mess at all. He had always been more of a recluse, eating in his own rooms, or, when things had been simpler, enjoying the company of his Knights. 

But today he had to get an impression of his staff, and sitting with them would allow him to feel them through the Force. In theorie, it seemed simple enough; in practice, it only revealed how little he really knew them. Sure, many were angry, or frustrated, or nervous. Some were oblivious. Some were happy. 

But unless he mind-probed each one as in an interrogation, he had no real way of knowing why each felt as they felt. Surface probing revealed thwarted plans, misplaced equipment, direct fear of the _warlock_ sitting near them - that would be him - or simple drone-like review of today's workday. 

He thought of the people on the list: _aah, here we go. Lieutenant-colonel Menkin is on that list, the old lecher. Yeah. He's hiding something._

"Supreme Leader, the meeting is ready. Everyone is waiting for you." He looked up to see General Hux standing respectfully near him, his posture rigid and precise. 

He stood up. "Invite Menkin, maybe the top brass needs new blood." He started towards the board room just off the bridge. 

Hux caught up with him on the way, after delivering the request to a surprised Lt-col. "Sir, I have been looking into the trouble that the scavenger has been causing, and the officers she has been targeting." 

Kylo nearly missed a step. "And?" 

"They seem to have a few things in common; for one, each of them do their own house-cleaning, or have a dedicated droid do it for them. I understand that, I myself don't like having people raffle through my things. It means the girl could move around their quarters unseen. 

"I spoke with a few of them, hoping I would get details about the havok she is causing, but none was forthcoming. Some were downright distraught. Now, I am embarrassed to admit that she did ruin my favorite pair of boots, but that was over a week ago." Hux paused. Then he said: 

"I suspect the girl might have found some contraband - drugs, or prohibited weapons - in their quarters, and that's why they're upset" he finished. 

_Hux, you just told me how you can help me_ , sighed a relieved Kylo Ren: rules and regulations. Hux was a stickler for rules and regulations. 

They had made it to the boardroom. "Well done, General, I suspected as much. We will discuss this after the meeting. 

* 

It was a pretty standard format exposition of how the ship was manned, who was in charge, what were the main projects on board. A few juniors that had distinguished themselves were presented. A few seniors were about to retire: some of them had served with the Empire of old and were happy to have served Lord Vader. Menkin was among those. Kylo thought a few suspected his heritage, but there was no real proof that he was either Leia's Organa's son, or Anakin Skywalker's grandson; that information had been closely guarded by Snoke. 

He wondered if Snoke had known about his officers' sick pastimes. The thought made his stomach roil with disgust - and envy. He would have appreciated the touch of a woman every now and then. But not if it was forced. He thought of Rey. 

The thought became pressing. Intruding into his mind. Something had happened. He looked at the old Menkin. He had a satisfied air about him that had nothing to do with being invited to this meeting. 

The Supreme Leader got up: "We all agree to visit with the Dressel system next. Now, if you'll excuse me..." He left precipitously to the sound of vexed gasps. "Hux, find me Captain Cardinal and join me in my quarters." 

Once there, he commed the M.O.. No visits from the stowaways. He commed transport. Yes, the medevac shuttle was gone, the tech's voice was strained, something was wrong. 

She was supposed to wait for information. He tried to reach her. It took several tries in a meditative trance to connect with her. 

_*Ben,*_ she said, her voice hoarse, _*there was a purge.*_

He only had a few minutes before Hux came by. _*_ Shit. _Rey, we're going to Dressel next.*_

_*I'm going to the Incinerator next.*_

He nodded. _*I don't know anyone on there. Be careful.*_ It was her turn to nod. 

The door chimed. He tried to shut down the link, but it wouldn't cut off. They looked at each other, shrugged: he had nothing to hide from her. 

Hux and the red-armored Captain came in. He invited them to sit at the little table before the starport, where they would be very near each other; near enough, he hoped, that Rey could be witness to the interaction. 

"Hux, what if I told you that there was indeed contraband happening on board every ship? Cardinal and I inspected someone's quarters yesterday and found proof of this. I have lists of names, and I can get some for every ship in the fleet, and some stations." 

"Well Sir, I'd say it's impressive, if surprising, that you would interest yourself with such petty crimes." _Instead of more important matters, like the conquest of the rest of the Galaxy,_ was the unspoken reproach. "Also, Dressel will not welcome us, there were part of the New Republic a month ago. We can't just go there and attack such a system without preparation." 

"We're not going to attack them, we're asking them for their help." 

Hux was tired of playing catch-up with the Supreme Leader. "Ren, what can this be about that has you so riled up..." Then he had a flash of insight: "This has something to do with the Scavenger. She found something. Something she told you about. What is it?" 

"We'll call them unauthorized guests kept in secret for prolonged stays on board ship, General." 

The Supreme Leader's incongruous question about brothels yesterday suddenly made sense. " _Sex-slaves_ ," he stated. He looked at Captain Cardinal, who nodded, a grim look on his face. 

"I want them safely off my fleet. I want those that keep them arrested and prosecuted. And I want you to help coordinate the operation today and tomorrow." 

Hux was stunned. The implications, the repercussions were immense. If the operation was bungled, the whole First Order could implode. If it was successful, it would consolidate the image of morality and order they promised. 

"Why do you feel this is so much more awful than the men visiting brothels?" 

"Most of the ones found are children." 

"Right." 

** 

The connection faded while the most powerful men in the galaxy planned an inside purge of the First Order. She saw the famous General Hux, eyes intent in concentration as they planned the operation. The Red-clad captain with them reminded her of the Praetorian guards they had fought together, Ben and her. Things had moved quickly from there. 

Edda Carron and Nassen Hobten would accompany her to the _Incinerator_ to make contact with the foundlings there. She had a list of institutions on Dressel that Toben M'gireen had contacted and could be trusted to help them with the next lot of rescues. She had a moment of doubt: there were nine ships to evacuate, and she had only the lone medevac shuttle. 

Unless the men she had just seen fade from view had enough information to coordinate their own evacuations. Like lists of names for each ship. 

Her flight credits were still good. She could hop from ship to ship, maybe make five in one day. Maybe drop Edda and Nassen onto some and pick them up later. 

She needed communication devices for them. They picked up and made for the _Incinerator_. 

* 

The _Resurgent-class star-destroyer The Incinerator_ bore its name surprisingly well: it was filthy. It took two hours to find even a trace of foundlings on board but when they did they were greeted by a small village. Rey counted twenty-three; ranging in age from thirteen to twenty, with five free-born children between two and five years old. The last purge had been two years ago. The last found youth had been over a year ago. This ship was run very differently. With two of the elders she explored the area around the quarters of personnel most likely to keep companions. The ship seemed clean. It seemed she could clear it out in one very tightly packed trip. She wanted to meet Kylo first. 

She waited impatiently in the area most likely for him to be lodged. Once again, she would put herself in close proximity to him. Within reach of Kylo Ren. Jedi-killer. Patricide. War criminal. _Supreme Leader of the First Order_. 

Leia Organa's _son_ . Luke's conflicted nephew. Her ally in this colossal task she had taken upon herself. A man whose Force-energy spoke - _sang_ \- directly to her own through a Bond that was greater than even Snoke had known. 

She felt him near her now. She concentrated and reached out to him. 

* 

Kylo Ren knew Hux had agreed to participate in the operation more out of a sense of Order than any real compassion for the actual victims of the shameful trade and exploitation that was taking place on board the fleet. When they made it to his new guest quarters on the _Incinerator_ , he dismissed Hux, but asked for Captain Cardinal to remain a moment longer. 

The Crimson-armoured soldier, Archex of his real name, was a native of Jakku; he had been recruited by Hux's father Brendol Hux to serve in his personal guard. He had been transferred to the _Absolution_ after some nebulous conflicts with Captain Phasma. Now that she was dead, Hux invited him to guard him instead. Cardinal had suffered as a child and it was obvious why he had been quick to work with Kylo Ren. 

Now the Storm-trooper was about to be let in on another secret. 

Kylo walked over to the fresher and peered down the laundry hatch. No bar blocked the access so he reached out with his mind. After a while he reached down with his hand and pulled up the dirtiest scavenger he had seen until now. 

"By the _Maker_ , woman, did you purposely roll around in the muck?" The Captain heard him exclaim from the fresher. "Well, get cleaned up then. Do you have a change of clothes? I'll have some more brought up. And a meal. Three meals. Hurry up." 

The Supreme Leader came out, wiping his hands clean on a towel. Seeing the Captain's look he schooled his face, but the shine in his eyes remained. "You will meet _the Scavenger_ shortly, Cardinal. She's also from Jakku, though you had left by the time she arrived there." 

Archex was still reeling from the revelations of the past twenty-four hours. The terror that had been wrought by Snoke and his Force-using apprentice - and his pack of Ren - was mythical among the men. He had assisted a few massacres himself. Unpleasant business he never quite felt was completely justified. But he was not in the First Order to discuss policy. He had been lucky enough to be recruited and escape Jakku. 

* 

When she came out, toweling her hair, Archex immediately understood what Kylo Ren saw in her. The young woman radiated strength and determination. She shone with a Light that was a complete contrast to the Darksider, and yet the dynamic between them, as contrary as it should have been - _had_ been only days ago - seemed to resolve itself into a harmony of sorts. A counterpoint. 

He stood up to greet her. She was half his age. "You're the woman that killed Supreme Leader Snoke," he exclaimed, admiration breathing into his tone. 

Kylo frowned: " _I_ killed the old monster. Rey,” - he presented her - “helped me survive the Praetorian guards." Apparently, some were still in denial about the event. 

"You did, Sir. It's still surprising to some, considering how..." the man struggled to find the right words, gave up, "how subservient you were to him." 

Rey gasped lightly: the Captain was bold. Kylo looked at him closely, then shrugged. "The destruction of the Hosnian system… I had been too absorbed in my own petty vendetta against the Jedi to realize where the First Order was headed. That," he looked briefly at Rey, "and other things pushed me beyond my limit. I had to stop him." 

They sat down to eat and exchange information. Cardinal was tasked to discuss with the commander of this ship, Captain Telia San'Luxida, to find how responsible she was for the apparent "sanity" of her crew. If she had implemented a successful policy, she would be an invaluable ally, along with her morally upright staff. They were scheduled to meet first cycle tomorrow. 

*

The door closed; Rey of Jakku and Kylo Ren were alone in his quarters. The tension between them grew until it was palpable. Kylo moved first. He walked to stand facing the star port. They had made it to Dressel. The sun was big in the window, the ship was orbiting between the planet and its moon; it seemed the same size as the star, making for an eerie sight. An eclipse was lining up. 

Rey sat on the setted, looking at them. After a moment Ren came to sit with her. 

"Ben," Rey started, stopped. 

"... I'm tired," she said, because she was. 

He thought of how she had come in, covered in filth. "You can sleep here. You can take the bed. I'll stay here, keep you safe." 

She moved in closer to him, took his hand in hers, leaned her head against him, and he put an arm around her. He sat very still. It wasn't easy. 

"I can feel a conflict in you," he said softly, a bit taken aback. 

It was a funny thing to say. Maybe, once all the children had been rescued, they could go back to fighting again: his Order trying to conquer the Galaxy, her Resistance trying to... 

She opened his hand up in her lap, placed hers on top: his hand easily engulfed hers. She traced the lines with her fingers. The bumps, the muscles, the callouses; each finger. Then she picked it up and kissed his palm.


	11. Preparation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As much as he was a monster, she could see through him to a man he himself didn't know very well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Extended by 4 pages after initial publication. Sorry.

She held it for a moment against her cheek. 

His eyes followed his hand to her cheek, to her eyes. They were huge, the moon and the near star reflecting in them. 

"Rey, I..." 

She closed her eyes. He felt her tremble, only a second, and he was reminded of crossed lightsabers quivering against each other, of snow falling on her eyelashes. She opened them, leaned forward, and closed them again as she kissed him. 

His hand on her cheek splayed open and his thumb moved below her jaw while his fingers reached behind to cradle her neck. He returned her kiss savagely, his lips parting, his other arm reaching behind her to crush her against his chest. He was momentarily blinded by a wave of desire he had held back for weeks. He shook with it.

She parted her lips for him, tilting her head, letting her tongue reach out to find his. Their tongues wrestled then settled into a dance, and she drank him in, her hand holding his wrist now, feeling the pulse beneath her thumb, her other hand tangling into his hair. 

Then she pulled away, panting, biting her lip, dazed. Quickly, he released her.

"There's no time for this," she told the cold dark tile of the floor. She got up on wobbly legs, "I should leave."

" _I_ can leave, so you can rest," he told her. " _You can rest_ ," he said again.

"But you..."

"I can wait." He got up and left his quarters. He marched the corridors of the ship. He would train, maybe swim, anything that would dampen the heat in his body. 

Her desire for him was evident. He couldn't explain it, but he couldn't deny it either. As much as he was a monster, she could see through him to a man he himself didn't know very well. That fragile part of him he had decided to let grow. 

He made it to the swimming pool and let the cool waters enfold and caress him for the next hour, while he surged and crawled through its soft resistance. 

**

She was exhausted. She couldn't remember when she had last slept, maybe a couple hours on Lannik 2. The meal she had just eaten was now making her heavy, even as her senses were aroused from kissing Kylo Ren. 

_Kissing Kylo Ren_. She picked up a charcoal from his drawing kit he brought with him everywhere, it seemed. 

She drew his right eye, scar and all, shining a reflexion of the Dressel Moon. Then she finally lay down for some deserved rest. 

*

When he was calm again, he decided to go straight to the ship's Commanding Officer. 

Captain Telia San'Luxida was still having tea with Captain Cardinal, they put more water on to boil. 

The tall, dark haired woman had pleasant features, marred only by a broken nose it was rumored she had refused to have set properly. She had won the command of the _Incinerator_ almost three years ago. The Supreme Leader broached the subject of the stowaways almost immediately. 

"I suspected as much," she said, "but that is a lot more than I thought we had on board." She kept the calm face of those who have no doubts as to their convictions. "You say you can bring them out, take them somewhere they will be safe?”

The men nodded.

"I remember when I first discovered the problem on board this ship,” she recalled, “I surprised one of the “Old Guard” officers during an unannounced visit." Her face changed to that of one remembering something more than a little unpleasant. "I should have arrested - or executed - him on the spot, but I went by-the-books instead, getting a warrant and all that. It took two days. By then..."

By then, word had gotten out. When the military police inspected over a dozen officers' and senior staff quarters, they found some evidence but no victims. Techs submitted logs showing five unauthorized airlock accesses. Then maintenance and sanitary found a dozen bodies in a dead-end air shaft, along with two defunct armed floater droids. They'd been broken by metal bars. Exploring the tunnels and shafts over the next two days found no more victims. 

"We thought that was the end of it. I was told by Senior command I was welcome to keep my ship clean, but to keep my nose out of others' business, and not make any noise about it." She looked up sharply at Kylo Ren. "It was implied Supreme Leader Snoke didn't care how his staff enjoyed themselves, as long as it was discreet." Kylo raised an eyebrow at that.

"Over the past few months I've only had trouble with new transfers, quickly taken care off," she finished. 

The door rang, announcing Hux. 

Captain San'Luxida agreed to dispatch her elite military police to "inspect" all suspected personal quarters on board all the remaining ships. The operation would start in twelve hours. Each dispatched detachment would carry a pair of stowaways from this ship as well - those who could volunteer - to find and round up the foundlings on the other ships. The broken-nosed woman's eyes shone and Kylo sensed from her a long-hidden wound starting to heal. The children's experience was one she knew personally. 

"You can gather them all here, we will have the medical staff ready to examine them, and some admin clerks look for families or tribes to bring them back to." 

"This is the ideal scenario," Kylo announced as he got up, "I have to confirm the participation of foundlings in the raids." He frowned as he looked at his little group of aides: "There will be push-back for this. To some, the whole point of Power is to get away with murder." 

Hux took a sharp breath. 

"Yes Hux, I know: even me. You and me both. Let's see how much good we can get away with before they come for us." 

*

Supreme Leader Kylo Ren made it back to his guest quarters, not knowing how long he would hold on to his title. 

A woman lay in his bed, fast asleep. He resisted the urge to lay down with her, instead making himself a cup of caf and going over his papers. He found her drawing. It was good. It was something they shared. It told a story he could no longer deny.

He picked his best quill.

> _In my eye, you see_
> 
> _The feelings i dare not share_
> 
> _But i cannot hide_

Trapping her on board the _Steadfast_ had been a gamble. She had crawled around in his armor and found her way to his breast. Had tucked herself there, right next to his heart.

Waiting. 

_Maybe, after the evacuation, I will be good enough_ , he thought.

**

She woke up warm and moist and in need of comfort. His musk permeated his bed and she cuddled his pillow against her stomach, admitting the want that had been building inside her for weeks. 

She could feel him, in the living room only feet away. The monster was dead and was releasing Ben Solo back into the Light. Only his responsibilities as Supreme Leader to a crippled, yet still formidable military organisation kept him from coming home to his family in the Resistance. 

Freeing the enslaved would profoundly affect the First Order. It would either change its mission to one the Resistance could negotiate with… or break apart and turn even more vicious - if that was possible. 

By helping her, Ben Solo was the fulcrum of that change. 

Dread and hope churned within her, he could be hers, or he could be dead within hours.

 _After_ , she thought, _after_ . _I can wait_ , she reminded herself sternly, resisting painfully. She finally dragged herself out of bed and into the ‘fresher. 

*

He was gone when she came out. He had left her seven tiny comms devices for her teams of foundlings and some breakfast. 

She read the poem. 

She picked up the quill, and tentatively, in her unrefined, child-like scrawl, added

 _I feel it too._

Her heart beat wildly as she slipped out of his quarters, into the guts of the _Incinerator_.

*

Edda and Nassen greeted her and she distributed the little radio devices between them and other volunteer foundlings. They moved everyone cautiously to the hangar bay where the medevac shuttle was, nearest the medical bay. It was the graveyard shift again and only a skeleton crew manned the control room. 

Just as she walked towards it, datapad in hand and dressed in her medical aide uniform, she saw the Red Captain walk to meet her, along with a tall, broken-nosed woman with a resolute look in her eye.

“This is medical technician ‘Kira’,” Cardinal introduced her to the stern woman, and Rey detected they both knew that wasn’t her name. “Kira, this is Telia... the Captain of this ship. 

The women shook hands. Profound feelings emanated from the Captain. Hope. 

“Captain Cardinal will assist you; he will pilot a second shuttle I made available for your efforts.” Archex nodded in confirmation; his helmet hid his features, but his body vibrated with nervous energy. They discussed a few more details before separating and attending their respectives tasks. 

Archex came with her to fetch the children waiting to board the shuttles, asking about Kafir Trembley.

“He was injured in the purge on the _Absolution_ , I had to leave him on Lannik.” Rey told him. 

“Ah, the Supr- Lieutenant Solo will be disappointed. He wanted to take him to the _Predator_ to gather what foundlings they could there.”

“He wanted to go… _himself_?” Rey was taken aback. A Solo nametag on his vest would not hide his distinctive scar and face markings. Too many knew his face now that his mask had come off. He was taking unnecessary risks. 

“Where is he? He can’t be everywhere. Tell him what happened, and tell him to … ensure we have trustworthy contacts on the other ships. That should be dangerous enough as it is.”

The Jakku native looked at the Scavenger. “ _Tell_ him…” 

Right. “Try. He might listen. It’s what _I_ did.”

The Captain frowned and then he gained confidence. Kylo Ren was more rational with every passing week since Snoke’s demise. 

They all were. 

All but some. They had to find them. 

Kylo Ren was a hunter. 

“Rey… he should be hunting.” 

Archex was right. That dirty agreement between the Light-Bringer and the Dark-Wielder was undeniable. 

“Tell him. Tell him I know. That I understand.”

Once the rescues were loaded on the two shuttles, they made for Dressel, splitting their charge in two different “Schools for the Abandoned” that had been proposed to them. 

Archex met up with her before splitting up for the next two ships; they each had kept three volunteer youths with them to contact the next refugees. 

“How did he react?” Rey asked the Red Captain.

“Like an ex-drunk asked to serve drinks.” 

“Oh Kriff I’m sorry.” It was so much easier to hold the Beacon alight and claim Moral Superiority and the “Greater Good and Justice” and all that. She remembered Luke’s rant about hubris. “I’ll make it up to him,” she promised softly but Archex heard her and gave her an appraising look. 

Darth Vader had killed the last Sith. This Jedi loved a Dark Side user. The Order he had joined and fought for had better adapt to a changing Galaxy. He nodded. They boarded their respective shuttles and made for the next ships; dropping off scouts and lifting off again for the next one. 

**

Kylo Ren terminated the holocomm with Archex on a resigned note. He was a killer. He shuttled to the next ship and Hux called a meeting. Four ships, four meetings in one day. 

Sitting in each one, he knew specifically what he was gently probing for: direct abuse, and names of accomplices. He took notes. Hux looked at him scribbling furiously. The list was getting alarmingly long. 

Murders would start tomorrow. 

*

He would sleep on the _Predator_ tonight night. He and Rey had convened of a time to Force-Bond, to finally control the thing that connected them. After long minutes of meditation and effort, it worked. 

They could open the link at will. 

They quickly exchanged information and names: there were at least sixty foundlings on the seven ships her team had visited, and she had a list of over a hundred names. He had found twenty-two more, but, as he reminded her, he had not searched for any foundlings on the ships he had visited, but there was some overlap. 

They compared notes. He sent the compiled list to Archex, Hux and Captain San'Luxida. He would have maybe three hours sleep, if that. During that time, Archex, Rey and trustworthy medics and support personnel would evacuate every foundling they had found. On seven ships. Two ships had been “purged”. When all the rescues were gathered on the _Incinerator_ , all ships would be locked-down. 

Of course, no operation would start without the Supreme Leader. 

His role was greatly simple. After the initial crack downs, find the missing rogues and capture them. If some died during the raids… well, the First Order would send their widows some compensation. 

He had called in his - now very much cowed - remaining Knights to the hunt. They were enthusiastic about their mission, if not exactly for the same reasons: The Knights of Ren were both feared and despised by the “self-righteous” First Order command staff. 

Rey and Ren sat across from each other, he in his guest quarters on the _Predator_ , her in a squat area on the _Avenger_. She was getting ready to leave, he, for bed. 

After a hesitation, he held his hand out to her. 

Rey walked over to him and sat on his lap.

He took her hand, removed the hair tie she held and put it on his table so he could weave his fingers with hers. He liked her with her hair down. Now he just stared at her, enchanted by her closeness, her scent, her weight on his lap. 

Then she took his head in her hands and kissed him. 

Soundly. Deeply. His arms came around her and he held her tight against him. 

“Sleep now, my Supreme Monster,” she breathed in a husky whisper. Then she wiggled off and ran to rescue the children. 

He let her go, of course. 

_My Supreme Monster_ , she’d teased. _She claims me as hers, and so I am._


	12. The Hunt

His heart beat wildly in his breast: if he survived the next few hours - and if _she_ did - there was a chance - a crazy, unexpected, astonishing chance - that they’d kiss again. And again. 

He looked at the hair tie he had taken from her. It was still there. He picked it up, saw one of her long chestnut hair tangled in it. He suddenly remembered the washcloth he had given her that other time, to wipe her face. He got up from his chair, began pacing. 

Through the Bond, they could transfer things. That was an extraordinary property that surely was unique to them, once again. She knew so little she took it in stride of course...

It was hard to relax enough to get to sleep, but he did.

**

The last two rescue operations had ended in firefights with mindless killer bots. Archex had advised they extract the things’ control units to discover who had programmed them. All the runaways that were found were examined on the _Incinerator_ before being taken to Dressel, last minute negotiations with the system government promising continued independence for discretion. 

While Rey and Archex were being treated by the medics for minor injuries, Captain San'Luxida received an urgent message from General Hux:

Officers and some senior personnel had disappeared, and so had the Star-Destroyer _Colossus_. 

It was time for the Hunt. 

*

 _*Can I accompany you?_ * The question popped into his mind as soon as he woke to the urgently beeping comms chime. 

He didn’t answer right away, reading and analysing the information sent by Hux and planning how he would dispatch lists among his Knights and Archex and a few other trusted Elite troopers sent by Captain San’Luxida. All the ships were on lockdown, except for his teams’ access. As he made his way to the hangar bay to find his TIE-prototype the _Whisper_ , he realized he very much _did_ want her with him again, even it it would be more efficient to have her use her Force-sensitivity to track down the now-stowaways hiding within the guts of the ships they had been trapped in.

He let her know.

* _I’d rather not kill anyone...without you,_ * was her cryptic answer. 

It set all sorts of fire alight within him. Then, one by one, they dampened as he flew to the _Incinerator_ to pick her up. 

_I don’t think the Jedi-aspirant is going to let me bathe in bloodlust,_ he realized. _She might let me bathe_ with _her_ , he thought, a vivid image of them in a bubble bath appearing in his mind. The other impression he felt was of that resounding slap she had given him last time he’d indulged in a bit of murder. 

_It’s all “Poetry and Pining”, until I actually have to control myself,_ Ben thought.

Seven teams in all were dispatched, with precise orders to capture as many as possible… in whatever state they could bring them in. Hux went on about “Order and Virtue”, and Rey cringed a bit at that, but his collaboration had been invaluable. 

She could fit in the back of his TIE. They made for the _Dominatrix._ By the time the Captain came to greet them, they had already disappeared into the bowels of the war-ship. 

“I think these assholes will be loath to actually go into the deeper guts. Unless they get totally lost, they will try to hide near these hangar bays, hoping to sneak off as soon as possible.” 

“We should have kept some of the kids with us,” Kylo replied. “We’ll have to use our own hunter bots to find them.”

“Probably. The predators have become prey. Some might actually survive.” 

Heat washed from her. She was eager for these kills. She had heard more stories than he had, had a better understanding of the runaways’ suffering. 

And Rey did have some Darkness in her. It had helped her survive her abandonment on Jakku. Excitement ran through him like electricity, as they prowled around the hangar bay, sniffing for the force-signatures of the lechers that had contaminated the First Order’s mission. 

“Wait. The kids are rescued, the ships are locked down. Let’s announce a fair trial to those who willingly surrender. Give them three hours to give themselves up. After that, anyone still hiding is fair game.”

It sounded fair, then she added: “Send the hunter-droids, they can drive the stragglers to us, or at the least find them.”

Ren picked up the comms and passed down some orders. 

They were walking back towards an ingress when the message was broadcast loud and clear. Suddenly Rey stopped and opened her pack, took out her water bottle. She sat on the grilled flooring of the metal bridge they were crossing, then swung her legs over the chasm, peering down into the darkness. 

After a moment’s hesitation, Kylo sat down with her. 

“You asked me to join you. What did you mean?” she asked him. 

“I- “ He hadn’t thought further than the immense rush of power he’d felt when they had killed Snoke and his guards together. 

“I’m not sure. Are you asking me now to see if my offer still stands?”

“I’d rather be free. I think the Order stands for abusive control.” She furrowed her brow. “I thought you’d be - happy? - to be freed from Snoke.” 

Minutes passed in silence. 

“But what would I be without the First Order? What would I do?” Ben's thoughts were running frantically around in his brain. Possibilities he hadn’t envisioned in years were clamoring for his attention. He heard Snoke’s wheezing promises of power again, empty promises, just as his father had guessed. He’d been a pawn not destined to survive past Luke’s defeat. 

“What did you want to do? You can’t possibly have wanted to spend your life in war-meetings and inspecting troops on parade grounds?”

 _Not if the past two weeks are any indication, no_ , Ben thought. The best days as a Jedi-killer with his pack of Ren were over. He was sitting on a bridge, suspended over a bottomless pit. Beside him was one of the last Jedi. And she wanted to be with him. 

The only real thing separating them was his bloodlust. 

“I wanted to be a pilot, like my father. But it’s too late.”

“You keep saying that. But can you get us a ship?”

“No, you don’t understand: I’ve done things. Terrible things.” His breath caught, his heart suddenly bolted forward, and he found himself fumbling for its reins. What was she saying?

“Uh-huh, so we don’t go to the Resistance. They would definitely put you on trial right away, that would break Leia’s heart. Unless you did other things. Better things. Good things.”

“I don’t know that I could do those things. Not enough of them for it to count.”

“Ben, can we try?” She leaned against him, and he put his arm around her. It felt natural to do so. “You’ve already started.”

“But what about the war? The Resistance?” _My mother?_ He left that unsaid, but she heard it anyway.

“They have Luke?” she asked, and he nodded. “Then, they don’t need me. Not as much as Leia’s son does, don’t you think? And does the First Order need you?”

“Not as much as you need a teacher, apparently.”

They sat in silence a moment more, until the energy between them began to change into something else...something they weren't quite ready for, yet. 

Kylor Ren got up. “Let’s get something to eat,” and they made their way back to the visible parts of the First Order. 

*

The _Dominatrix’s_ Commander found them sitting by his TIE-fighter the _Whisper_ , eating sandwiches, drinking caf and discussing the programming of the hunter-droids with a tech while the “mercy timer” counted down.

He was unpleasantly obsequious with his Supreme Leader, trying unsuccessfully to disguise his contempt for the Scavenger girl, obviously dismissive of her formidable power. He probably thought that Kylo kept her as some sort of mistress, which meant his sudden crackdown on his officers’ private hobbies was a bit disrespectful of their hard-earned privileges. 

Of course, some of those hobbies were disgusting, and rules and regulations were to be followed, but hunting those men down was overkill. 

Kylo looked up from his datapad at the privileged man thinking too loudly and asked him if any of the listed suspects had come out of the woodwork yet.

“Well yes, sir, ten did come out and give themselves up soon after the announcement.” He looked proud to have so many comply and come forward. “Only four are still missing.”

“Your ship has the most offenders,” Rey quietly said, not lifting her gaze from her own datapad.

It was also a ship with a below-average number of foundlings on board. 

An uncomfortable silence stretched out for what seemed like a full minute. 

Then the Captain coughed and asked to be excused, which Kylo granted him with a wave of his hand. 

They sent the droids in early to locate and drive the stragglers out. They sent a last warning out before time ran out, adding that Kylo Ren himself was on board. One last offender, this one a young man who looked shameful and confused, gave himself up. Kylo observed him for a while. 

“Who showed you to do this?” he suddenly asked. 

“Sir, I- don’t know that I should tell on my superiors.” Kylo waited while the young man reflected. Rey was amazed at the Ren's patience, when he had a reputation for formidable rages. She’d even overheard men call him “Darth Tantrum”.

After a moment the young man faced his Supreme Leader. “It was Lt-col Merkin Sir. He said it was the Natural Order of things. That the systems we conquer would learn to respect us and that this was our reward.”

“One day you will want a wife and children, Lieutenant. Respect is earned.” The young man stole a quick glance at Rey and she felt her face warm. 

A signal was heard all throughout this ship and the others in the First Order fleet: the Hunt began anew, this time there would be no mercy. 

**

Rey ran towards the signal on her copy of the ship’s plans on her datapad; the droid had located the commandant near one of the reclamation tanks on the third deck on the starboard side of the ship, near the area’s officer’s mess. She checked again, then put the 'pad in her pack.

She knew exactly where to go and how to get there. The droid was a discreet one, that had not engaged the wanted man, instead following it from a safe distance. 

Ren followed her close behind as they advanced quickly, jumping over the gaps or up to superior decks occasionally. His blood was up, like the last time, but he kept his head about him. The prey they hunted was most certainly armed, and getting wounded here, in this labyrinth of passages and sub-passages, could be fatal. 

Finally they were close enough to pick up a life-signature. They slowed to a stealthy walk… and he felt her scent charge with pheromones. 

She was excited. 

“Rey," he whispered, surprised, “do _you_ want to be the one that…” he let it trail off. She turned to him, grasped his hand and looked into his eyes. Hers were darker than he’d ever seen them. 

She squeezed his hand, hard: “Ren, I- I made sure they got every chance they got,” she whispered, and it sounded more like she was talking to herself than to him. 

There it was again, that dirty deal between them. 

But there was a bloodlust to manage: she felt it too. It both burned and chilled her. Kylo Ren put his arms around her and hugged her tightly. “Rey, you don’t have to do... that,” he told her.

“But what about you? Archex said you were trying to... change.”

“Ah.” Archex would have to be sent to the Resistance after this, he was too sensitive to continue serving this cold, impersonal Machine. 

“I can handle a few more. Besides, after this, we have to deal with the _Colossus_ , remember?” 

She sagged a bit, then straightened. “You better get us a _nice_ ship.” 

*

When they found the Commander, the fat man pissed himself and surrendered immediately. Rey sent the coordinates from her datapad, sent the hunter-droid on to the next target, and they handcuffed the man to some pipe hanging in midair over another wide conduit that seemed to be a bottomless pit. 

Rey threw one of the man’s boots into the hole and it landed with an dismaying squelch. 

“Imagine drowning in _that_ she told him, if you’re not devoured by roach-rats first.” She hadn’t _seen_ any on the ships, but she had seen tracks in the muck, and occasionally felt some swarm scurrying away from her position. Small but numerous. 

As they walked away, the man started pleading for them to let him free, promising them all kinds of things but eventually threatening to find their children and- 

Rey turned right around and started marching back and 

incredibly

Kylo caught her arm and brought her back to safety, though he himself was shaking with fury. 

**

With the help of the bots, it took less than a half hour to locate another lecherous ogre and they travelled most of the way through normal walkways and turbolifts, occasionally passing by squads of stormtrooper who looked at their dirty faces and disheveled appearances and wondered if they should arrest them as trespassers. One's sergeant, however, immediately commanded his troop to attention and saluted the Supreme Leader, apologizing profusely, and thanking him as well.

Once past, Kylo had a pensive air. 

As soon as they went back between the walls, he let Rey take his hand and lead him to the area where their new prey had dug herself in. 

“A woman?”

“Yeah, you’d be amazed at what women can do when they become corrupt. So I’ve heard,” he added hastily. No need for her to know where he’d learned some of the things he knew. 

A sudden bolt of red light flashed towards them.

Surprised, Rey managed to block the second blaster bolt, but not the first. It hit Ren in the left thigh, and he went down to one knee. 


	13. Healing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kylo Ren had been unable to destroy her. Ben loved her. And here she was, finally making it back to him, radiating as much Darkness as he himself possessed. A Darkness that gave her strength and made his blood sing.  
> It was beautiful. It was frightening. He was fading fast.

They both turned in the direction the blast had come from, then Rey looked at Kylo. He nodded and sat down, putting his hand over the wound. 

Rey took off at a full run. 

The woman ahead of her had good aim; Rey had to knock aside quite a few shots, but the offender had no chance against a Force-wielder that had grown up prowling around in these ships. She eventually hit a dead end at the edge of a chasm she couldn’t hope to jump.

Rey grasped her in a Force-fist, then walked up to the muscular woman on the edge of the precipice and pried the blaster out of her cold, stiff hand. 

With what little movement she had, the Major managed to spit at her. 

“So the Great Jedi-killer took a Jedi after all”, she growled. “You must have something very special between your legs to convince him to punish the rest of us for what he obviously decided he could have himself. Even when Snoke allowed it.”

Rey felt herself blush but let it pass: “Why didn’t you surrender like the others? You’ve condemned yourself.”

“Have I? To what? Demotion or prison is a fate worse than death. Take me to him, at least, instead of taunting me with a sentence you can’t carry out.”

Rey was at a crossroads: through the Bond, she could feel Kylo’s pain and it was possible the loss of blood could drop him into shock. Before her, an enraged predator was showing no signs of remorse and had already wasted her chance. Rey walked over to peer down over the edge of the conduit. She knew this one from blueprints: it was at least a hundred meter drop, fatal.

“You little whore… you seduced our Supreme Leader with your witchcraft and your little cunt.”

“You’re one to talk Major… Trembley.” And Rey gently floated her above the chasm before releasing her, not caring whether she hit plasteel or three meters of viscous sludge.

She didn’t watch her fall, though she felt the woman’s rage turn into fear as she plummeted down, and the Force in her turned an even darker shade of anger. 

She picked up her pace to get back to Kylo.

*

While focused-rage could be used to staunch the flow of blood from a wound and draw energy from it to continue the fight, it did little more than that, and Kylo was considering calling for help while the Jedi-aspirant was debating whether to kill a now unarmed woman, or not. 

Then he felt her Force-signature darken, and for a moment his blood reacted to its evil tide. He realized that there would never be a moment where he would be truly at peace.

Snoke had chosen him for his bloodline, but had let him be trained as a Jedi instead of kidnapping him as a child, hoping to benefit from both trainings in his apprentice. He had believed dual-wielding the Force would make him much more powerful, but had then spent the last six years tricking Kylo into renouncing the Light. 

The Dark Master had almost succeeded. 

But the Light itself had manifested itself in this innocent girl, and been put in his way. Snoke had said so himself… minutes before his death.

Kylo Ren had been unable to destroy her. Ben loved her. And here she was, finally making it back to him, radiating as much Darkness as he himself possessed. A Darkness that gave her strength and made his blood sing. 

It was beautiful. It was frightening. He was fading fast.

*

She made it to him just in time and took him in her lap. She put her hand over his wound and closed her eyes to concentrate. She had learned a few things over the past weeks on board ship, the Bond between them letting her access some of Kylo’s memories and training. The birthing she had attended, the way she had used the Force to relieve some of the pain and bleeding of the too-young mother was still very fresh in her mind. 

Between the Dark residual energy she held and the well of emotions she felt for the man she now held in her arms, she felt the Force in her organize itself into something she could hope for: healing to save him. 

She bent over him until their foreheads touched and let herself flow into him. 

*

He told her as soon as he came to: “I love you.”

She opened her own eyes and that look she had seen on his face all these times suddenly had a name. 

“I know,” she answered, and gave him a shy smile.

He closed his eyes again. 

She blushed furiously. She had saved him. Why ?

“I love you too,” she breathed softly, and a smile lit on his face. 

*

Before he could walk again, they commed with their teams:

Reports were good: a few surrenders, some dead, some wounded. Efforts were ongoing on the few stations and bases the First Order controlled. 

He rose and Rey had to hold him up; he had a slight limp - his thigh cramping after the damage it had sustained - and Rey asked him if he wanted to pursue the last rogue officer. 

And kill him, was the unspoken agreement. 

Rey’s hands had blood on them, his breeches were torn and bloody. He was tired and hungry, and a detachment of troops and droids could just as well do the job.

And he didn’t feel like killing anyone. 

“I’d like to go home to my quarters on the _Steadfast_ , if that’s alright with you,” he told her. 

After a moment’s hesitation, Rey asked him:

“I’d like to come with you, if you’ll have me?” 

His heart stopped.

“I would very much like that,” he answered, and his heart started up again. 

They came out of a service panel near the men’s mess, both dirty and bedraggled, Kylo limping, Rey obviously weak from the effort of healing him. 

The _Dominatrix's_ M.O. meet them at the Hangar bay where the _Whisper_ was docked. He checked their wounds, gave a large exclamation of surprise at Kylo’s mostly-healed blaster wound, only giving him a combo shot of pain-killer/anti-inflammatory, and an antibiotic for good measure. He gave one to Rey as well while she washed the blood from her hands. The medic’s face bore an expression of awe. 

“You healed him,” he asked quietly, “with the Force? I mean, of course you healed him with the Force. But, the Jedi-Killer?” Then he gave his Supreme Leader a look so heavy with meaning Kylo Ren was shaken to his core. All he could do was nod, and the medic nodded in return: a promise accepted. He released them soon after.

Without a word she settled in the back of the TIE-fighter. He climbed in, strapped himself in and shut the hatch. 

Once they were clear, he called out to her: “Do you want to give her a spin?”

Rey piped up, excitement in her voice: “Really? YES!” 

He’d spoken too soon: there was no way for him to maneuver out of his seat and slide in the back and she giggled as they struggled. He thought of settling her in his lap but his injured thigh wasn’t quite that numb, nor was any part of him. So she half-crouched, half-hunched over him while he showed her the controls and explained how he’d worked with his engineers to design the fighter. He’d drafted the frame himself. 

It was a twenty minute flight to his Flagship and she spent it looking over his shoulder, out the viewport at the stars, arms wrapped around him for balance, murmuring questions in his ears and breathing him in. 

Hux greeted them on the Finalizer with a long-form status report ready to be delivered, but interrupted himself as his Supreme Leader’s attention was obviously more drawn by the sight of Rey of Jakku climbing down from the little ship. 

“Right,” he punctuated the air. “Well Sir, I suppose it can wait an hour.” He swallowed, “or… or two.” He swallowed again, eyebrow raised at the obvious dismissal his Commander was absent-mindedly waving at him. “More? Well... then. Whenever you’re ready, Sir.”

“Hux… would you be so kind as to ask the Chef to make us some supper? With a nice wine to accompany it, please?”

 _Please?_ “Of course Sir. I’ll make sure they deliver it just inside the door.”


	14. Cleansing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Words were running through his head. He wanted to tell her he loved her again and again, in an endless loop; he wanted to call her name over and over in that same loop. 
> 
> But what he said instead was :
> 
> “Why?”

As soon as the door to his quarters was closed he took her in his arms and kissed her - long and deep - holding her close. When he finally broke the kiss she was flushed and breathless. He took off his gloves and boots, and put his relatively clean cloak away. Then he gave her an inviting look and made for the ‘fresher-room where he started the bath. 

“Your choice,” he told her, mischief in his eyes, “the tub or the ‘fresher, there’s water for both.”

She followed him in, and was peering into the dark wooden tub. “That is a big tub…”

While the tub was filling, he went to the sound system hidden inside a wall panel and selected a playlist of preferred music. It sounded like it had been played in cantinas generations ago, a lone male voice singing a hopeful _complainte_ in a language she didn’t know. 

He went back to the tub, adjusting the temperature and softening the lighting, undoing the clasps on his tunic, and then removing it, revealing his undershirt and his arm-guards, and then reaching for their buckle. 

Rey stood transfixed, caught between the burning desire ignited by his kiss, and fear of the intimacy that was becoming inevitable. “Kylo…” she breathed.

“Ben. Call me Ben. There’s no place for Kylo here and now.” He waited. And then he had a flash of understanding: “Rey... we can wash. We have dinner coming in a while. Anything else is up to you.”

“We can wash,” she repeated. It was almost comical the way she squared her shoulders and summoned her courage as she advanced on him like they would duel again. 

She reached for the armguard buckle, and undid it. She started pulling one arm off and he sat roughly on the side of the tub, the feelings suffusing through the Bond suddenly overwhelming him. 

He wasn’t with some Industrial's lecherous wife or with some ambitious or rebellious General’s daughter. He couldn’t hide his feelings, and just as he’d told her, he couldn’t be Kylo Ren. A tremble took him, and he looked down, his confidence shaken. 

*

It was a terrible thing, this transformation of a monster into someone she could hold close to her heart. Standing before him, she pulled his head to her midriff, running her hands softly through his hair, and after a moment he let himself soften and accepted the caress, closing his eyes. When he was calm - when _she_ was calm - she started pushing the leather sleeves down off his arms again. One, then the other, massaging the tension from his muscular shoulders as she did, tracing some of the scars she had seen on him.

She pulled his camisole over his head and he was every bit as big and broad as she had seen so far. The bath was full, bubbly and warm, lightly scented of lavender, and she moved back to remove her own wrappers while he reached to turn the spigot.

She removed her belt and her long fiber wrap and her light tunic came loose, down to mid-thigh, so she pushed down her leggings. 

Then she pushed down her breast band. It slid smoothly over her narrow hips. Then she dropped her panties. Confidence was flowing back into her. She kicked everything into a little pile on the side. 

Ben Solo stood a little uneasily to remove the rest of his clothes. Torn britches first, then woolen socks. 

Then he took a breath and removed his dark grey boxers. He was only half-erect, too many emotions running through him to fully let his body assume anything more. He stepped into the tub and lay back at one end, and let out a long-held breath in a huge sigh of contentment. 

Rey had chosen to join him. She stepped in and removed her tunic as she sank down into the bubbles on the other end, herself sighing in relief. The tub was deep enough for the water to cover her up to her shoulders. 

Their toes met, and then their calves slid along each other as they found a way to ease their limbs without twining them together. 

They reclined for a moment, listening to the waltz-like music coming from the main area, and heard the outside door open a moment, then something was rolled in, then the door was closed again. 

He was almost dozing off when he felt her move and he opened his eyes to see her grab a washcloth off the pile on the side, the soap - the smooth one, not the gritty one - beside it and move towards him, her small breasts just below the surface, her eyes moist with emotion. 

She placed herself to kneel between his spread legs and started with his face. He was so vulnerable this way, closing his eyes to avoid the suds the soapy cloth was leaving as she gently scrubbed the dust and dirt and blood off, while he fought to remain calm, passive for the first time in weeks. 

She caught his shallow breath and quickly rinsed his face so he could open his eyes again, and compassion was clearly visible on her face. 

Words were running through his head. He wanted to tell her he loved her again and again, in an endless loop; he wanted to call her name over and over in that same loop. 

But what he said instead was :

“Why?”

She was washing his throat and shoulders. She paused and said:

“Every time we met through the bond I saw more of you. I saw how he beat you.”

“You pity me.”

“Pity? Pity is for the hopeless, or for children. You are stronger than you know. How long did you resist?”

“Resist…” He felt like he hadn’t resisted. And yet he had. For years. Trying to control his temper, trying to focus on his studies, doubting - as much as a boy can - the whispers that told him that his parents feared and hated him and wanted him gone. 

He had run to Snoke as a last resort. 

His eyes widened as the realization dawned on him. He had resisted most of his life. In the end, it was Luke’s clumsy, terrified reaction that had pushed him into Snoke’s arms. 

And if he’d been calmer that night… he’d have seen Luke’s regret. 

“Turn around.”

He came back to the present moment and turned his back to the Scavenger. She backed up so he could recline and pushed his head down into her lap: she wanted to wash his hair. 

He let himself be completely submerged by her, eyes closed and holding his breath. After a moment she brought him up again, making breathless noises in her throat at the absolute trust he was giving her. 

His head in her lap, a bubble clinging to his nostril, she could have held him down and solved one of the galaxy’s most pressing problems. Instead she felt his hair softly brush against her thighs and the underside of her breasts. When she pushed him back up, she kept his head tilted back and washed his hair gently, kneeling up to reach his forehead. When she uncovered one of his big, inelegant ears… she leaned forward and kissed it, her thighs encircling his hips, feeling her breasts graze his back as she did so, the nipples perking at the touch. 

He leaned back to rinse his head and she almost leaned over him, but then pushed him back up again, and took the washcloth to this time proceed to wash him in earnest, rubbing hard, as if she could wash away the scars on his back. She lifted each arm in turn to reach its pit, then the whole arm right down to each finger, lacing her own through his a moment before continuing down his wide chest, this time completely pressed up against his back. 

She was not shy anymore, and every stroke was punctuated with a feeling that through the Bond could only be read as _Mine_ , _Mine_ and indeed she was continuing her claim on him, this time his body, and he was blown away by her savage desire. 

Then she moved in front of him and his control failed and he took the cloth from her. 

“Your turn.”

She was reminded of him washing her face almost exactly the same way, a week ago, with her hanging filthy on a line and him in his tub, only now she was in the tub with him, as naked as he was. The violent, rampaging monster was nowhere to be found, though she suspected it was only because she kept it at bay. 

Once he let go of her face she scooped water in her hands to rinse it, and turned herself around, letting herself fall back into his hands and his lap. 

He kept her afloat in his hands, her loosened hair curling around his now fully erect staff, brushing some tendrils away from her throat with hands so large he could throttle her with just one of them. He raised her up, in turn worthy of the immense trust she placed in him. 

As he lathered the shampoo in he remembered his families estates, in particular his mother’s heritage as an alderaan, and the elaborate braids she had patiently sat for as her maid would help her pick a motif depending on the day’s agenda, and the message the Princess wanted to send to her rivals and colleagues in the Senate. He blushed suddenly, remembering learning a few styles from that maid, when he had wanted to surprise his mother for her birthday. 

When it came time to rinse he reached for the shower attachment “Wait, we have that?” and rinsed her all off, enjoying the sight of the suds running down her back and over the cleft of her buttocks as she raised herself on her knees, head back and glistening wet. 

The desert girl absolutely luxuriated in the feel of water running over her body, and she turned to face him, closing her eyes, breasts and most of her body exposed, suddenly reaching for the soap and making it suds over her unshaved mound. 

The bath had a built-in heater and overflow to keep an inflow of warm water, but the bubbles were mostly gone and their fingers and toes were pruning. She washed herself, her long legs, her feet, and then sat back down and reached for him. 

She washed his legs quickly: most of the grime had already come off by now, massaging his feet and tickling them a bit as she did so, making him jerk slightly, unsuccessfully holding back a giggle. Maybe a couple giggles. 

Then she reached for his cock. 

He almost moved away but didn’t: wasn’t this what he wanted? 

All the violence he was capable of but when it came to women… he always let them take him first. In fact, if they didn’t, if they waited for him to take them, it would frustrate him and he’d end up hurting them instead, and after a couple of times, he’d kick them out of his bed. It was something neither his Knights nor his Master understood, their relationship with women being all one of conquest and victory, and not about sensual pleasure. When Snoke mocked him and deprived him of intimacy, it had taken some time to accept it, although by then, he was growing bored with even the feisty ones, not completely able to confide in them, to let them know him, whether he was Kylo Ren or not. 

_Rey_ , now. 

Rey had pulled him up to his knees and was pressed up against him, skin to skin, and he was curved over her to return her kisses as she was stroking him in earnest, her other hand alternating between gently cupping his testicles and caressing his flank up to his breast, rubbing a nipple to make it tingle. 

“Rey...” he warned her, feeling her relentless attention was going to push him over the edge much faster that he had planned.

“Yes, come,” she breathed, almost a moan, and he was surprised by the intensity of his climax. 

She milked warm ropes from him, while he barely held himself up on the sides of the tub and grunted into her ear. He coated her thighs and bush and she gathered some on her fingers, looking at it before tasting it. 

Ben fell back on his knees, dazed. He had no idea what her experience was, but she wasn’t completely innocent. 

“I don’t want to get pregnant,” she told him. “So I’ve never…” and she let the thought trail off. 

Of course. A lone girl, pregnant on Jakku was a life sentence. She had been lonely that way too, not committing to anyone, not wanting to live a life where she might be miserable enough to abandon her own children. 

“I have a prev-pellet,” he told her. Not that he had needed it for the past four years. But to avoid scandal in case anyone decided to claim him some “heir”. 

“You do?” And a smile bloomed so wide across her face he was blown away by her eagerness. 

*

She was more excited than she had ever been, but getting him off had been primordial. She wasn’t ready to go all the way, especially with _him_ , but she knew from experience that if she got a boy off fast, he would usually not insist too much on the way of it, and it usually took him enough time to recover she could get rid of him before things got out of hand. Sometimes, he returned the favor. It was a rare occurrence, desert hygiene hardly good enough to permit much experimentation. So, she usually made her way back home alone, and relieved herself of her frustration on her own. 

Ben Solo was not a boy though. 

Sure, she had seen him rage and threaten, but he had not in any way tried to force her just now. He’d shown more restraint than her. 

Her stomach grumbled. “We eat first,” she announced, and got out of the tub, to pass into the ‘fresher to finish rinsing off. 

It took a while; she was swollen and slick with desire, but when she came out she was ready for almost anything, and stepped into the bathrobe she found hanging on a hook just outside the stall. 

Her clothes had been discarded, to the wash probably, down the hamper she had crawled out of a few times in the past weeks. 

Ben looked a bit sheepish, his plans probably gone awry, but as she sat with him at the little table, he lifted the dish covers with a flourish, savory and spicy smells wafting from it. Delightfully describing to her each dishe’s origin as well as some of its composition, he poured her some wine, telling her then of its vintage and rarity. The tune playing changed and he told her the story it told, translating some of the chorus, while enumerating the instruments played and the culture that had birthed this style of music, adding how he had learned the steps to its associated dance, partly from his mother, partly during his first years in the F.O..

He was chatty, and Rey stared bewildered at the sight - and sound - of a nervous and excited Ben Solo. She finished her plate while he had barely taken a bite. 

“Ben,” she called him, and she felt a thrill along the Bond, “you can’t tell me everything in one sitting, it’s too much!” and he immediately shut up. 

“What about you?” he asked, “tell me about you.”

For a moment, Rey felt self-conscious. Then she thought of all she’d done in the past few weeks. How her scavenging skills: - prowling, and understanding others scavengers - had served her here, in the Belly of the Beast. 

“I think Plutt was a bit nonplussed when he realized my parents weren’t coming to “buy me back,” she started, realizing her story maybe was more interesting than she’d always thought. “That’s when he switched me from cleaning parts to finding more in the wrecks. He sent me out with some of his thugs as first: they drove me to the Graveyard of Giants, hauled me up to some promising spots, and squeezed me into some tiny spaces none of the grown ups could get to.”

Ben listened to her intently while she told him her story, encouraging her through the rough spots - the filth, the despair, the competition - spotting and marking the struggles where they realized that she must have used the Force without knowing what it was she was doing. 

And then she related something that truly surprised them both: “When I was about thirteen, something really terrible happened in the … in the universe - the Force? - and I felt a... a _heartbreak_ … “ She trailed off, the memory she had blocked for years coming to the surface… it wasn’t _my_ heartbreak. 

“I was just… cleaning parts I think. Plutt was “supervising”. I felt a sudden chill.” She shuddered as if re-living the moment. “Like a frozen dagger had been plunged through my breast. And then… it passed and that heartbreak just stayed with me. For days before it faded. Or maybe... I just got used to it.” 

The memory became vivid in her mind and she became transfixed by it, suddenly still. Ben leaned forward in his seat and put a comforting hand on her knee.

And the memory _leapt_ to his mind. 

He let her go as if burned. He knew that memory. 

It was _his_ memory. It was the day _he killed Voe_. 

He fell to his knees before Rey, eyes wide and in a state of near panic. 

She realized the moment they had touched where that memory had come from. She saw the rest of that day: the Ren. The massacre. Tai. The Rage. Voe. 

She reached to him and pulled him into her lap. 

She said nothing, merely placed her hand on the nape of his neck, holding his shoulders, and waited. 

Something inside him broke and if it hadn’t been for Rey anchoring him in place like a rock, he would have been swept away by the surge of emotions that suddenly engulfed him in a tidal wave of grief. 

Ben Solo cried. 

*

He must have sobbed for an hour, waves upon waves of guilt and regret, while she held him to her. After a while he felt her shift under his heavy head and realized his feet had gone numb. His knees were protesting. Her robe was damp. 

“I’m sorry, I made a mess of things, this isn’t at all what I thought would happen tonight.”

He’d thought to give her hours of toe-curling pleasure, starting minutes after the bath. _During_ the bath. 

His face was puffy and his eyes were swollen and red. Her own eyes were red from crying with him, softly, while she soothed him, her big, beautiful monster falling apart at her knees. “Hush,” she told him, “whatever it was couldn’t be as important as this. Hush,” she told him again to stop his protest, “You are Ben now. That is all.”

The playlist had played itself out. He got up to wash his face, stretching sore muscles and still limping from that wound he had sustained earlier and that she had healed with her own life-Force, re-discovering a skill that had been lost for generations.

What a day it had been. He was exhausted, and when he came back out and looked at her, staring blindly into the port, blinking back sleep, he realized nothing else would be happening tonight. 

“I’m going to sleep,” he announced. Then he added, nervously, “would you join me?”

She got up and stumbled past him into his bed. 


	15. Merging

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maybe he wanted to do things to her first but Rey wasn’t patient enough.

Sometime during the night she woke to the sound of him snoring. Loudly. He was lying on his back, arm over his head. Mouth open. Snoring. 

Once her initial annoyance faded she giggled a bit. Then she shook him a bit so he’d stop. 

He shifted on his side facing her. Then his eyes blinked open and he looked at her a moment before reaching for her and drawing her close, still sleepy.

He was hot, compared to the room’s cool air, breathing deeply into her ear like some big cuddly animal, an arm draped over her stomach, and Rey felt herself warm. 

She felt him harden against her thigh and quickly her warmth turned to desire. 

If yesterday’s memory was any indication… they’d been connected through the Force for years before Snoke had become aware of it and lied to them about “bridging their minds”. 

It was fitting that they should connect now, in the physical world. 

She turned to him and kissed his lips, and drew his leg over hers, spreading her own as she tried to drag him over her. 

He opened his eyes again, looked at her for confirmation, then, carefully, climbed over her to place himself between her legs. 

What little clothing they had worn to bed fell away between kisses. 

Maybe he wanted to do things to her first but Rey wasn’t patient enough and reached for his shaft to place it at her entrance. She was slick and warm and a few rubs up and down her folds - making her clench and pulse in anticipation - made it abundantly clear she was ready. 

At some point while he eased as gently as possible into her he realized he was deflowering her, an experience he hadn’t known yet. She had raised herself on her elbows, forehead touching his, breathing in and out to relax, and he stopped a few times to look at her while she relaxed and he moved again when she nodded for him to continue. 

He went at it progressively, retreating then advancing again, until at some point he felt he was fully sheathed within her.

  
He felt himself enveloped in her Light. It was warm but it didn’t burn. It welcomed him, and he felt his own, tiny flicker of Light exult in the joining.

“My beautiful desert flower,” he soothed her, “relax now.” And he rearranged his weight over her so she could breathe easy, watching her, and feeling her with every sense he had at his disposition. 

*

Rey had been shy of reading too much into Ben’s mind, not wanting to see the worst of it, but she had glimpsed that - as a rule - he’d been good to the women he’d known. She didn’t feel the selfish eagerness she’d known from other boys - the one’s she’d had to fight off. 

So there was no fear when the stretch of him entering her became painful. He just stopped and waited for her to accommodate him, and once the burn was passed she nudged him to continue, and he eased in some more, inch by hard, smooth inch. 

Now he had reached as far as he could go inside her and it was just as wondrous and solid as she had dreamed it would be. The nervous tension went out of her and she began to feel his heat tingle inside her and she bid him to bring her to the next step, the rapture she had denied herself for so long. 

*

He felt her relax. Her kisses became deep and wanting again; she caressed his body more freely, kneading his muscles almost painfully. And then he felt her pulse on him as she tilted her hips towards him. 

It had been years since he’d been with a woman and he’d never moved as gently as he did now, and it occurred to him that it was different because he wasn’t fucking. He was loving and being loved. 

But now he was a bit at a loss: she had wanted him inside her right away. Would she feel pleasure? Would she climax? Would he be able to last long enough ? Not _too_ long and make her sore ?

He hitched himself up until he was kneeling, keeping her arched over his knees and she gave him a questioning look. “Hold on”, he told her and reached beneath her with his thumb to collect some of her moisture. Then he gently rubbed her clit a few times. 

The way she tensed and moaned made him smile. He licked his thumb - the taste of her making him throb in anticipation of later exploits - and gave her another circular rub and there, it would definitely work. 

He pulled her up into his lap. “Give me your hand.” And when she did he put her fingers in his mouth and sucked on them to moisten them. Then he put them on her. 

“You know how to do this. Play.” 

She was confused, “But, I thought… you’d...” 

“You wanted it too fast to be properly prepared, sweetheart. I want you to feel pleasure. With me. Don’t be shy _now_.”

So the Scavenger, no stranger to taking opportunities when they presented themselves, put her fingers to her folds to coax out the pleasure she knew she could find there, and it took little time to realise, that, straddling him, she could move on him and profit from the exquisite stretch and fill she had always longed for. 

“Oh, _Maker_ ,” she moaned, as she clenched on him. 

“Oh, _Maker_ ,“ he echoed, as her clench made him throb. He shifted their bodies around on the bed so she could remain in control but he would be leaning against the headboard, freeing his hands. 

She had wonderful little breasts, firm and held up by her climbing muscles, her well-defined shoulders and arms tight as she worked herself while he leaned and kissed her face, her shoulders, anything he could reach. Caressing and lightly suckling her nipples made her pulse more and he started breathing through his nose, his control starting to fray. 

Rey had taken the reins of their bodies and was riding him in earnest, her body finding a rhythm, pain making way for pleasure. He watched her rise like a tide, her skin flushing, her head tilting back, her fingers working furiously on her nub and grazing him along her folds. Currents of the Force flowed within her, Darkness moving between them, and she gave in to her Passion for him.

And then 

she opened her eyes in surprise and her whole body tensed, then heaved as ripples swelled into waves of rapture, punctuated by cries of “ _Oh, Oh, Oh!_ ” 

She fell on his shoulder, limp and breathing fast, and he wrapped his arms around her, to hold her close. 

He’d passed through the storm, if barely. He placed his hands on her hips and pressed her down on him, wiggling as if settling himself into a nest, preparing to flip her over, but that brought a little gasp from her. 

Wherever her climax had brought her, she came back at him with a vengeance, and pushed and shoved him back down onto the bed. 

She wasn’t nearly as gentle as he had been as she rode him roughly into his own climax, and he felt as if he had been hit by a speeder and dragged over several meters of rugged terrain. He’d barely managed to grasp her hips to keep from being thrown into outer space. 

**

She was well and done for. The past twenty-four hours: the healing, the crying, the _pleasure_ had completely overwhelmed her. 

And he’d told her he _loved_ her. 

And she, _him_. 

She was up before him - the _snoring_! - washed, dressed in clothing he had obviously been keeping for her, and picking through last night’s supper when he got up. The comm had chimed. It was time to find out what they had wrought on the First Order. 

Ben stumbled into the ‘fresher and later stumbled out of the ‘fresher, and when she saw him he was struggling with his stiff padded tunic and his face had an expression she couldn’t decipher. When he saw her looking at her he gave a wan smile and she felt he was still processing the same events she was. 

**

Archex was at the door and they let him in, and he quickly understood that her presence in his quarters confirmed the rumors he had heard on his way there. 

Yet as they all sat together, Archex simply enjoying caf while they ate leftover bread and desserts for breakfast, he felt the feelings between them were unresolved; if anything, the new lovers were overwhelmed. 

Then, because he was man of some experience, and had studied the Jedi in his spare time, he said:

“Fallen Jedi and Jedi-aspirant, right? That _can’t_ be simple.” He chuckled, then added, for good measure, “Supreme Leader and Resistance Warrior.”

Then Ben gave him a grateful look before continuing: “Heir of Alderaan and Orphan from Jakku.”

“Bonded by the Force itself,” Rey concluded, weaving her fingers through Ben Solo’s. 

“Well then, now that we’ve surmounted impossible odds,” the red Captain said, “I’d like to see how we can track and subdue the _Colossus_ , since it’s gone rogue.” 

Nearly two hundred children and youths had been rescued. Over a hundred officers and some senior staff had been either apprehended or killed. Thirty had commandeered the _Colossus_ and disappeared. 

General Hux and the Intelligence and Communications division were trying to find ways to spin the whole distasteful affair in ways that would not completely destroy the alliances they had forged with the systems that were strong enough to resist them. Teen-soldiers were all very well - noble work opportunities for the courageous but sadly uneducated - but sex-slave girls? No no no. Can’t have _that_. 

While the talk turned to First Order affairs, Rey wondered what to do with herself. 

She was no longer a prisoner. Her past weeks’ purpose was achieved. She would most certainly participate in the raid on the _Colossus_ , but it could take weeks before it was found. She didn’t expect to be invited up on to the Bridge, and neither did she want to go, if her wandering attention while the men discussed logistics was any indication. 

What was she, now? A guest of the Supreme Leader? His mistress? His _companion_? What was it the woman she had killed had said? ‘...what he obviously decided he could have himself.‘ 

“I need to go home, Ben.” 

Both men looked at her.

“Sweetheart,” Ben started, “home to _where_?” 

“Back to the Resistance. Back to your mo- back to Lu-,” she stammered, “They will be worried,” she added hastily, because maybe he would understand that. 

“But honey, we only just started…” he broke off, cheeks coloring. 

Archex stood up. “Sir, you really are needed on the Bridge. Perhaps the young lady here would like some time alone to think about things a bit.” He gave her a meaningful gaze. “Maybe make some plans.” 

Ben stood up in turn. He realised he was stooping and straightened himself. He called his Ren saber to his hand and hooked it on his belt. 

The men made for the door and before he passed it, Ben turned to her: “At least stay another day?” and he leaned in and kissed her. And again. And in that wondrous, sensual way that promised her Hava and left her weak-kneed and breathless. 

**

As the men walked towards the meeting, Archex was furiously trying to plan ahead.

“You won’t be able to keep her locked up and idle. Also, the Resistance is starting to doubt our reassurances that she’s still your hostage.”

“We could make a new video.”

“Sir... is she still your hostage?”

“She’s my guest.” 

“A guest locked-up in your quarters, for weeks. What is the policy on keeping unauthorized guests in Officer’s Quarters again? Didn’t we just purge our ranks and lose a Star-Destroyer over that policy?”

“She’s hardly locked up. Anyway, it’s not the same… I’m the Supreme Leader.” 

“Yes sir, you are.”

Kylo stopped in his tracks, turned to the red-clad captain: “Archex. You’re proving to be invaluable to my service.” They made it to the doors leading into one of the war-rooms. “We will speak later.”

**

Hux’s hair was back to its normal, precise style. His boots shone proudly, his uniform was crisp. His face, however, was dark. 

“Sir, one system’s called in already, saying they had entrusted us with their sons’ futures but now they’re not so sure anymore.”

“What does that even mean, ‘They're not sure anymore?’”

“They want to charge us for their conscripts.” 

“That was quick. I thought the orphanages were keeping things quiet.” 

“It’s the Nanthri system. We had an officer from that system that went AWOL two days ago from the _Absolution_. He was on the list.”

“Ah.” He wasn’t ready for this level of negotiations. He had been trained to crush his enemies. 

Of course they had little proof of the officer in question committing the crimes he had inside knowledge of. They may have a live witness - or more, but the embargo on information still held, and those kids had been through enough already. The officer was either trying to destroy the First Order, or push it towards an extreme policy that made them no better than the crime syndicates like the Hutt. 

The Hutt. That had held his mother enslaved and on display like some… companion. 

Hux looked at him attentively. “On another note… did you have a nice… rest?”

Kylo raised an eyebrow at his closest general, then shuttered his expression. 

“The Chef outdid himself. Thank you for passing the order for me, Armitage.”

 _Thank you?_ “Sir, of course, sir. It was my pleasure. And the wine? I recommended it myself.” 

“It was a fine vintage, yes.”

“And the -”

“Hux, when was the last time you’ve had to deal with a Force-user?”

The red-head reflexively put a hand to his throat, “Right. Sir. Force-users are very… forceful.”

“We are. Now... what have we planned for those offenders that survived?”

**

Rey spent the morning trying to plan what she would do if she was allowed to return to the Resistance. How she would find them, for starters. What she would tell them. What she would tell Leia. And Luke. And the others. 

What had Chewie told them ?

Would they consider her _escapade_ foolish ? Had it been ? Had she succeeded ? Ben Solo had certainly emerged from Kylo Ren’s armor. All nearly two meters and one hundred kilos of muscles and sensuality of him. But the First Order still existed, and he was still the Supreme Leader of it. 

Her sabotage had taken a very different form from what she had initially started - she suddenly wondered if she should apologize to Hux, after all the support he had given the rescue operation - but her efforts _had_ caused a rift in the Order. 

Sitting down at his desk, she went over the drawings and poetry again. How long had he felt this way about her? How could she leave him?

_Ben, I want you to join me. Please._


	16. A Parting Gift

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She gave him a long look. “If Ben Solo suddenly had to leave the First Order… how many would follow him?”
> 
> “You’re going to _steal_ our Supreme Leader?”
> 
> “I prefer the term ‘scavenge.’”
> 
> “Right. When will you be ready?” 

She considered the escape pod. It was tiny, with limited flight capacity, though it did have pilot controls. She shook her head: it would attract attention.

Her flight credentials were still good. The lockdown had been lifted. The medevac shuttle was on the Incinerator but she could easily hitch a ride on a cargo shuttle if she was patient.

She made a light pack and left him a note and then headed for the hangar bay, using the tunnels and accesses she knew best. 

It was still thrilling to climb up and down the vertiginous heights and squeeze through piping meant to accommodate the occasional maintenance droid. Sneaking around in the cargo bay, hacking a console to find which one was due for the _Incinerator_ , took only minutes. 

There were none scheduled for today. 

She thought of borrowing Ben’s _Whisper._

**

Lieutenant Mitaka approached his Supreme Leader with extreme caution.

“Sir, Flight control just reported your fighter the _Whisper_ had left its shuttle bay. Destination unknown.”

“What? Who?”

“They think it was _the girl_ , sir, thought they didn’t see her take it.”

“That _girl_ , lieutenant, is a _woman_ . Her _name_ is Rey. Prepare my ship the _Silencer_.”

**

Kafir was recovering nicely, but now that Rey had discovered healing, she gave it a try and finished what the medics had started. 

The kids were all gathered around her in the medical wing, hugging her and listening with rapt attention to her re-telling of “the Operation” that had rid the First Order of their captors and tormentors. 

The Twi'lek boy grasped her hand: “I’d like to go home now.”

“Home? Where’s that?” 

“Back to my family, with the Galads, and Hobten. On Dressel.”

“Your family…” 

“Miss Rey, someone is here to see you,” intoned the nurse. She was frowning. “He looks important, he also looks pissed.”

“Ah. I know who that is.” She turned to the children with her: “Who here would like to see their savior?”

*

An anxious Supreme Leader saw a wave of children run towards him and for a moment he feared getting swarmed, but then he saw Rey’s beaming smile and he let them approach him, then touch him. 

Then drag him down so they could hug Ben Solo.

When he got up again - a little shakily and wiping his eyes - he saw the Twi'lek boy and the too-young child that seemed to follow him everywhere, _Nassen,_ he remembered.

The _Silencer_ was parked right next to the _Whisper_ and as soon as the children saw the TIE-fighters, they left the adults and ran to see - and clamber over - the ships, screaming in delight. 

The two adults stood together, the tall man with his arm around the too-thin woman, when Nassen tugged at her hand and asked her in a harsh whisper:

“Rey… he’s your boyfriend?”

The director, attracted by the commotion, was walking up to meet them. When he realized who had arrived, he nearly stopped in his tracks, then straightened his shoulders - gathering his courage - and walked stiffly the rest of the way to them. 

“Supreme Leader, it’s quite a surprise to see you here in my humble School.”

“It’s Ben Solo, if you don’t mind, director... ”

“Of course. I am Victor. Victor Nelelly. If you had warned us… either of you, we would have prepared.” He looked around at the kids still enraptured by the TIE-fighter planes. “Brewed some caf, at least. To what do we owe the honor of your visit?”

Nassen tugged urgently at Rey’s hand, eyes popping out of his face, so that she leaned down and he whispered into her ear:

“Rey… this is Kylo Ren!” 

Now Rey crouched with him and told him: “Nassen, Ben Solo was a Jedi until Snoke tricked him and stole him from Luke. I came to save _him_ , too.”

“I wanted to see how the kids were doing, Kafir Trembley in particular.” Ben spoke and Rey straightened and turned to the big dark man beside her. “We both did.”

“Kafir wants to go home,” Rey told him.

“Him _too_? Where’s home? What is it with you Scavengers and this obsession with home?”

“Do _you_ have a home, Ben Solo?” 

He didn’t answer right away. He just looked at her and something passed through the Bond, something immense. 

“I do now,” he said simply. 

* _Then come away with me,_ * she pleaded silently.

 _*After the Colossus._ * He took her hand. 

They spent an hour drinking caf while the School’s director and staff showed them around, reciting the school’s history and introducing some of the staff along the way. 

Suddenly, Ben interrupted them. 

“These children are a liability. They’re important, _embarrassing,_ witnesses of a scandal that’s already started to tear the First Order apart.”

Victor Nellely nearly dropped his cup. “You’re right; but we were promised your protection. Doesn’t that hold?”

“When we started, we thought they’d be maybe two dozen kids and a few old degenerates to prosecute. But now...”

“We have to move them.” Rey stood up, “Somewhere the First Order won’t find them.”

They all got up in turn. 

The Supreme Leader spoke:

“Until we find and defeat the rogues on board the _Colossus_ , this is what we’ll do: Victor, change all the children’s names and don’t let them speak with anyone. Contact the others to give the same instructions. We’ll convene on a signal to share.”

“Rey, you’re getting your wish. I’m sending you “home” to Jakku - with Archex. Should you meet with some of your old “friends” while you’re there… tell them how we need their collaboration.”

“I will supervise the intel coming in from the systems: there was already one trying to exhort us this morning. We will continue the search for the _Colossus_ as well.” He turned to the Jedi-aspirant: “You will be required to assist when we find it.”

“Of course, sir,” they both answered, and he nodded in return. 

As they walked back towards the TIEs, Ben held on to Rey's hand. He kissed it when they boarded their respective ships.

*

General Pryde, a dried-up old man so rigid it was a wonder he could sit on a chair, stood with Archex in the Shuttle bay. A noticeable distance stood between them. 

“Supreme Leader,” Ben cringed inwardly at the title, “we have a new report for you if you will accompany me to the Bridge.” 

“Just a moment, General. Captain Cardinal, escort my guest to her quarters.” He nodded at Rey before turning back to the Officer and walking off with him.

_*Please don’t leave me before saying goodbye.*_

_*I won’t.*_

**

“Archex, how well do you know your men on board this ship?”

“I could tell some were disappointed with the rules actually being applied, if that’s what you’re asking.”

“How about if some were satisfied, even _relieved_ they were applied?”

“I’m not sure what you mean?”

She gave him a long look. “If Ben Solo suddenly had to leave the First Order… how many would follow him?”

“You’re going to _steal_ our Supreme Leader?”

“I prefer the term ‘scavenge.’”

“Right. When will you be ready?” 

She looked around ‘her’ quarters - Kylo Ren’s really. She’d packed a few things, but she had nothing really. “I’m already packed. But Ben wants to see me before we leave.”

“Right.” The Captain shifted from one foot to the other before saying, “I will be hand-picking my most loyal men. Contact me when… when you’re ready.”

**

As soon as he set foot in the door he was on his knees before her. 

He pressed his face in her midriff, and at first Rey thought he would cry again, but then he rubbed his face on her, his hands reaching to lift her tunic to get to her skin, and then reaching around her hips to hold her to him. When he started kissing and suckling her skin she got a strong feeling of what he was aiming for, and when he grasped the hem of her leggings and pulled them down to her knees, underwear and all, she understood.

In the dry, dusty desert, this kind of caress was unheard of. 

He buried his nose in her bush, breathing her musk in loudly and there was no resisting the big, hungry animal he had become. 

His warm breath woke primal instincts in her and when his first licks reached her she nearly fell to the ground, just barely putting her hands on his shoulders to hold herself up. 

Neither said anything, instead communicating in grunts and moans. He pushed her clothing to the floor then pulled them off her legs, reaching higher into her with his muscular tongue as she raised each leg. She stumbled backwards into the desk of the boudoir, finally finding something solid to hold her up before being sucked into outer space. She fell backwards on the wooden surface, hitting her head and seeing stars while he relentlessly lapped at her folds, nose bumping against her nub. Her thighs only resisted for one shaky moment before shamelessly falling open for him and he moved up to follow her downfall. When she felt him push fingers inside her and move up to suck at her nub, she started mewling like a cat. 

Somehow he’d manage to find his chair and he held her up and open in his hands like a sacred book he was greedily reading from with his tongue, one thick thumb marking his place inside her, moving in time with her pulses.

Her climax was glorious.

Coming to was like emerging from a deep pool of ecstasy. She was dazed and swollen. There was only one thing she needed more.

“Take me,” she cried hoarsely. 

*

It had taken everything he had to keep his attention on the reports his Senior Staff was giving him past the point where he understood they had yet to find the _Colossus_. They would send a covert force to retrieve the Officer that had stupidly exposed himself on Nanthri - did he want to be part of that operation ?

“Can it wait? There’s a thing or two I’d like to do beforehand…” 

Hux looked at him and pinched his nose. Pryde ground his jaw, allowing his face to change from dead to furious - if only for a moment. 

“If we are done here?”

“Yes, Supreme Leader, you may go.”

And as he stormed off the Bridge, he heard his top General softly whisper to himself: 

“Kriff. The Supreme Leader is crotch-struck.”

There were only two things Kylo Ren felt confidently competent in: killing foes and pleasing women.

Rey had posed him a bit of a conundrum at first, and she had surprised him - twice - yesterday, but now he knew exactly what he could do to ensure that she would come back to him after her little mission. 

He didn’t run to his quarters, though his cape billowed behind him like a storm surge and crew and troopers alike leapt out of his way. 

**

She tasted like nothing he had ever tasted before. She tasted like the Light itself. And when his tongue reached all the way inside her, she tasted like the Darkness.

She was a pulsar under his mouth, strobing between fire and water, and he burned in one and bathed in the other until she shook and pushed his head away. 

He took his cloak and most of his clothes off while she lay limp and moaning on his desk, and when she lifted her head and urged him “Take me,” he picked her up and carried her to his bed. 

Yesterday‘s breach had opened floodgates in her and he found her to be as deep as the black lakes of Caspia. 

The tender, attentive woman who had cradled his grief yesterday contrasted with the fury who had ridden him into oblivion early this morning - and he found that that was indeed her nature in bed. She grasped and pulled at handfuls of his hair and muscles, and bit and sucked at his skin, and he could pound into her as hard as he wanted, she only seemed to writhe and moan more. 

When he found her angle she roared, and he came into her so hard and copious he thought for a moment he had fallen into the void his old master Snoke had always taunted him with. 

She was feral. She was dangerous. 

Kylo Ren was done for. 

They made violent love twice again before she became too sore and they had to stop. When Archex came to pick her up, he first turned furiously on his Supreme Leader only to gape at him in open-mouthed shock: they were _both_ covered in scrapes and bitemarks. 

Only Rey’s blissful expression and Kylo’s besotted one let him guess what kind of relationship these two would have. 

He swore under his breath before recovering enough to share a list of his most trusted men with his Supreme Leader - _Just in case, Sir_ \- then picked up his bags again and they made for a light freighter common enough to blend in with most cargo ships on the hyperlanes. 


	17. Jakku

Jakku. Captain Cardinal had thought never to see that hellhole again when Brendon Hux had picked him out of a hundred other boys to accompany him onto one of First Order’s first Star-destroyers. 

“I heard you healed him of a blaster wound.”

“I did. I kinda mixed some of my knowledge with some of his and it worked. It left an ugly scar... though I don’t think he’ll mind.”

“You’ll have to teach him that.”

“What, healing?” She thought about that, the Dark-sider Kylo Ren healing people, it sounded ludicrous... and then it sounded hopeful. 

“To balance things out, I mean,” Archex added as an afterthought. 

**

They both kept deathly silent as they flew over Niima Outpost, then Rey guided the freighter to land near her fallen AT-AT home, now almost disappeared under the sand. 

When the airlock opened and the gangplank descended, the flinty air hit them like a suddenly opened kitchen heater-cube, and neither of them moved for a good long galactic-standard minute. 

Then, because the habit wasn’t yet so long in the past, Rey moved forward and made for the wreck’s opening in its belly.

No one had managed to break in yet, and she breathed a sigh of relief. She looked back at Archex, waved at him, and after another minute he finally clambered down and joined her inside. 

It was still relatively cool; they had arrived in the morning, the sun just moving over the horizon. Rey inspected each room, found everything still in its place, as if she’d never left. 

When she came back to Archex, she saw him staring at her wall of marks. She moved towards it, reflectively finding the metal awl, then became very still, as she realized she had lost count. Her hand dropped.

The two Jakkuvians stared in silence. Then it was Archex turn to move first. 

“Come Rey, let’s get to Niima Outpost. You have to make yourself known.”

It was a short trek but they walked at a good clip so they could get there before the sun became unbearable. They both wore the lightest grey clothing they had found, for the cooks in the mess halls. 

At the outpost, Rey immediately inquired after her speeder, and had to “buy it back” from Plutt who had - fortunately or unfortunately - survived the attack on the outpost. 

He gave her a dirty look, not understanding how she could reappear after weeks of disappearance, but when he saw the elder man with her, he came to some conclusion and pointed her in the direction of her speeder. 

Rey took her time walking around the outpost, while Archex did the same, but with an idea blooming in his mind. 

When they met to get back to her downed troop-carrier, he told her. 

“We can probably bring a few kids with us on the freighter? What do you think?”

“We could, but what would we do with them?”

“We could…” He’d thought to enroll them in the First Order, like he had been. He wasn’t so sure anymore.

Sure, when he had first been ‘rescued’ from Jakku, three meals a day and clean quarters and brothers-in-arms had seemed like Hava to him. He’d understood and accepted the Order’s mission right away: the Republic was corrupt, the Order would organize and pacify the Galaxy. 

And then, the destruction of the Hosnian system… 

The Republic had neglected the systems it had considered low-value and then the First Order had swooped in and picked up the orphans and the abandoned, and then started asking for tributes from the planets it had “organized”. 

“I don’t think there are any orphanages in this system… do you ?” Rey spoke softly.

“Maybe, when all this is over, we’ll find one.” And they clambered onto the much abused but still faithful red speeder. 

They didn’t have to wait very long for someone to come for them. 

**

“You let the girl go “home”. For a visit.” Hux exhaled loudly. 

“First of all, she not a  _ girl - _

“Not  _ anymore _ , apparently -

Kylo ignored that, though his ears warmed. “And second of all, I couldn’t keep her, now, could I? Not after a kriffin  _ purge _ for exactly that offense.”

“She was our hostage from the Resistance. We have plenty of cells still available in the brig”

“Like those had managed to keep her last time. Anyway, Captain Cardinal is guarding her.”

A look passed between the Generals before Pryde interceded:

“A single guard won’t keep her from the Resistance once they find her; you’ve just killed one of our finest.”

“The Resistance will be very interested in learning there is a rogue Star-destroyer out there without a fleet to protect it, and occupied by slavers and degenerates even the First Order won’t tolerate.” Kylo Ren was thinking fast, but he’d never been put in such a spot before, and he was scrambling.

“You’re gambling! What if they overrun it? They sure as hell won’t give it back, will they?”

“They’ll have a Star-Destroyer to use against us, Sir!”

“You know who’s on board that ship; they’d rather side with Kanji-club than the Resistance. Some of them would rather  _ blow themselves up _ than be overtaken by the Resistance! Which would  _ you  _ rather ?”

When neither answered, he bit back his own retort:  _ Really, is that who we are? Are we just one pressed-uniform away from a crime syndicate? _

He got up from his place at the head of the long, black plasteel table, and turned to look out into space. Somewhere out there,  _ she  _ was there, looking at the same stars, in the same galaxy. He could  _ feel  _ her.

“Besides, she’ll come back.” 

“Really, Sir, how can you know?”

_ She loves me. _ “I just know. You’re dismissed.” 

It was only years of training that made them come to attention and salute before leaving the war room. 

On his way back he decided to stop by the medbay to see if something more could be done about the wound in his thigh. It had been Rey’s first attempt at healing, and as impressive as that was, after the day’s exploits, he felt some tearing had occurred that might cause him to limp in the long run. With all that was happening, the last thing he needed was some injury to slow him down. 

When his favorite M.O. showed up, she fussed over him in her usual way, her tone full of reproach for not coming to her sooner. 

She cooed over Rey’s work, eyes full of wonder, and still gave him a shot of bacta just to make sure residual dead muscle would quickly be recuperated and eliminated instead of forming internal scar tissue.

Then she took out one big plastic needle and applied it to his upper arm. She shot him and it hurt. 

“What’s this?” he asked, rubbing his arm but he already knew what it was, and when she brought out an extractor and took something out of his other arm, he had his confirmation. 

“It’s a prev-pellet, Kylo, yours expired months ago. I sent you three reminders in the past three months.”

“Oh  _ Maker _ .”

“What? What’s wro- oh no. You didn’t.”

“I did.”

**

_ I feel it too _

He wanted to have the drawing and its poem framed. He stared at it for long minutes. His bed was still a mess from the numerous battles that had taken place in it today. He took his shorts off, luxuriating naked in the smell of her, of them together, feeling himself swell with memory and the desire it ignited in him, but he didn’t act on it. 

He lay on his back with his full heart beating wildly and the blue and white prints on his wall slowly came into focus. The huge wave that was certain to have washed away everything in its path.

And then the triptych of the fish. In particular the third print: where the black fish is depicted at a time where it can either join the pale fish in perfect harmony in the pond, or become the Dragon. 

He thought of Snoke. Of his father. Of Luke. Luke was with his mother now, in the Resistance. Plotting. 

Plotting ways to get him back with them. 


	18. Part II - Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I told them we are together. I couldn’t hide it, for kriff’s sake” she added hastily, “I had bruises all over me: it was either lovebites or torture. They did think it was torture at first. They were upset.”

It was BB-8 that found her for them. She heard his distinctive beeps and whistles and came right out of her walker to greet him. The pilot and the ex-stormtrooper were not far behind, advancing cautiously until they saw her. Then they ran.

They hugged. First in turns, then all at once. Then Rey invited Archex to join them when she saw him come out of the light freighter he had gone in to get some supplies...or to get out of the heat.

The two Resistance fighters looked at him suspiciously until Finn exclaimed:

“Rey! This is Captain Cardinal! What! How?” and he reached for his blaster but Rey stopped him. 

“No wait! He’s with me!”

Archex put his hands up in a gesture of peace. After a moment, Finn and Poe lowered theirs. 

Then they looked at her. Then they raised their blasters again.

“Step away, Rey, we have this.”

“What? Wait, why?” She looked at Archex and he quickly gestured at his throat then at her.

Poe replied: “You were obviously tortured to be used by bait by the First Order. But that won’t work with us. We’re taking this guy prisoner.”

“Tortured? Oh!” Then she laughed and turned beet-red: “I wasn’t “tortured”, don’t worry! Oh my, this is embarrassing.”

Archex shook his head while Rey shifted from foot to foot before finally saying: “Men, put your weapons down!”

*

They all sat aboard the Falcon, in the lounge, Rey trying not to say too much too soon.

“I need to see Leia, and Luke. I need to share with them what I learned about Ben." 

“Don’t call him that. That monster is not Leia’s son.” Poe spat. Finn spat. 

Chewie whined softly, then grunted: “<Let her speak. She just spent three weeks with him.>”

“Thanks, Chewie, but it’s best I tell his family first. You can be there, of course.”

**

“Sir, the Millenium Falcon has been spotted on Jakku. It only stayed a few minutes then it took off again.” 

“Accompanied or alone?” 

“Alone, Sir.”

 _Alea jacta est._ _I hope Archex is alright and with them._ “Keep me posted on any other sightings, Ensign.”

**

“You know we killed Snoke?”

“We?”

They were transferring equipment and supplies from the non-descript freighter to the one that was known across most of the Galaxy. The Supreme Leader, feeling magnanimous, hadn’t let them leave empty handed. They also had a little fortune in credits, though their worth had taken a plunge, being tied to the Fleet’s size. 

Rey had actually convinced Archex to buy some very rare and expensive little glowing blue and white tubes from Plutt, knowing their true worth. 

“Yes. _We_ killed Snoke. Ben and I. Together. Then I asked him to call off the attack and he did. After becoming Supreme Leader.”

“So now he’s Supreme Leader. That’s what we understood. We thought Snoke had been killed in the Holdo Maneuver." Poe was still awestruck and humbled by her sacrifice.

“Holdo Maneuver? What’s that?”

“That’s when the Supremacy was split in half! It was Admiral Holdo. She drove the _Raddus_ right through it. You _must_ have seen it.”

“I was a bit busy at the time.”

She decided she could safely tell them about the Throne Room fight. Then, just as she started…

“Wait. _How_ did you get on the _Supremacy_?”

“I got a better question: _Why_ did you go on the _Supremacy_?”

The Wookie gave an angry growl and Rey blushed even redder. 

“I’m sorry, I’m _sorry_ , Chewie! I really thought I’d come back with him!”

Now the men gave the Wookie a dirty look and he growled back and shrugged, and they all shrugged that shrug that men have when they agree : “ _Women_!”

*

“... and then all the red guards were dead and he turned to me and he asked me to join him. But I wouldn’t, so we got into a bit of a tussle and I guess that’s when the Raddus hit. I woke up and he was carrying me to the infirmary and they gave me a shot. Then next thing I knew, I was a prisoner.” She’d glossed over the Force-bond, telling them she felt a “connection” to Ben Solo, unsure how to explain it anyway, especially how to explain it was different from the crushing grip the Master had kept on his “apprentice”.

All the men, Archex included, had listened to her tale in open-mouthed amazement. 

“And he called off the attack.”

“We got that demand for a cease-fire in exchange for good treatment of “the Jedi girl.” We saw the video footage.” Finn mused: “something tells me you didn’t stay a prisoner for long.”

“Yes and no, I could escape the cells, but not the ship.” She paused, looking at them regretfully before adding, “the rest I’d rather tell Leia and Luke first.”

***

With both Archex and Rey gone, Kylo felt lonely again, especially with Hux and Pryde so visibly unhappy with him.

Captain Cardinal’s hand-picked detachment introduced themselves to him, and light-probing of their minds told him they had indeed extended their loyalty to him after learning of his role in the Operation “Orphan Rescue”. 

It was a strange kind of feeling...being esteemed for acts of Light rather than feared for his capacity for violence. It further loosened things in his soul that had been kept hidden and trapped in layers of lies and denial. It made more space for that little life in him he had decided to let grow. 

A deeply selfish part of him surprised him suddenly, hoping he’d seeded a little life in Rey as well. He hadn’t meant to lie to her, he’d honestly forgotten the implant had expired. 

Now it dawned on him he should warn her. She should be able to make a choice. 

Soon. Obviously not while he was on the Bridge, even if all he was doing was staring at darkness filled with minuscule points of light. Millions of them. Filling the void. Like the Force. 

***

It took the little Band almost a day to get to the Resistance’s new base on Ajan Kloss. Rey would tell them nothing more, but the men got to know each other, although Archex was careful with his information, letting them know that Kylo Ren had had a “change of heart”, and letting it at that. 

**

Rey, exhausted from weeks of action and reaction, slept like a rock.

“Those bruises on her, though...”

“You see the way her eyes shine when she talks about him.”

“Finn, I think those aren’t bruises...they’re lovebites.”

 _ <Low whine> _

**

They couldn't find Leia fast enough. Luke was summoned out of his meditation, Chewie kicked everyone else out and closed the door, staying in. It was a family meeting. 

“So basically he wants us to go get and move some kids from these orphanage on Lannik and Dressel… and then go after the _Colossus_ and take it out?” Leia was flabbergasted at such a demand.

“He doesn’t expect you to take it out, really, but find it so the First Order can “discipline” the rogues. Archex can confirm.”

“And you...how are _you_ doing?” Luke asked. Both twins could sense a change in her Force signature. A Darkness that was not new, but... better assumed?

Just before landing on the base Ben had managed to make contact with her but she’d cut him short to concentrate on their approach. 

_The prev-pellet was expired. I could be pregnant. I have to check._

It took a while before she decided to tell them how she felt, but their worried faces showed the suspense she was putting them through was unfair, especially Leia, who looked fragile as if she’s survived some ordeal, prompting her to speak now. She took a deep breath. 

“Ben Solo is in love with me. And I, with him.”

“Ah.” Leia smiled, Chewie grunted in appreciation; Luke frowned, then let out a long-held sigh.

“ _Maker_ , I hope you’re right about him, and that I was wrong. He plenty earned his reputation after he ran.”

“He did. But once freed from Snoke it didn’t take much to convince him to do the right thing.”

“Why didn’t he come back with you?”

“He may, after the _Colossus._ He doesn't know that he can. _Can_ he?”

“He can. If my brother here can come back,” Leia gave Luke a nasty look, making the Jedi Master visibly _flinch_ ,” my _son_ certainly can. Though there will be a lot of damage control to do within the ranks. He’ll be proving himself over and over again.”

“Kylo Ren knows all about proving himself, and coming up short every time.” Rey turned to Luke, opened her mouth as if to say something, then thought better of it and left the office.

Once outside, she looked for the sign that identified the medical bay. 

**

When she found Archex, he was deep in discussion with Finn, but they didn’t mind her joining them. 

“Hux was really distraught by Captain Phasma's untimely demise.” The man known as Captain Cardinal was relating how he’d come to work in close proximity to the ginger General and the Supreme Leader. 

“We’d had a falling out, her and I, about General Brendol Hux’s methods in the First Order. When the senior Hux died, I was on a mission planetside. It took me weeks to get over that. Hux’s son then sent me to another ship. I was surprised he called me to his side at all, although guarding the son is an honor I can pay his father. Even if they weren't on good terms at all in the end. 

“Then, the Supreme Leader took me as his personal guard. And now,” he looked at Rey sitting beside them, noisily slurping her soup, “he has me guarding his most precious...I was going to say possession, but that wouldn’t be right. Friend, maybe?”

“Mate.” She left it at that. Finn choked, then nodded. 

“I wouldn’t say that out loud, if I were you. Poe and Chewie and I guessed, and - oh, you haven't met Rose - I can’t keep a secret from Rose - but she’s good, she won’t tell - but the rest here haven’t heard what you’ve told us so far...and it’s a bit much to swallow.”

Poe arrived and set his tray down to sit with them. 

The dusky-skinned man nodded at him, then turned back to the older man and said, face frowning in intentness:

“Archex, there were some very disturbing rumours about Phasma. And both Hux’s.” Once Finn had heard of Archex’s personal “adoption into the ranks” - essentially a rescue from Jakku - by Hux senior, he understood the man’s loyalty, but felt it misplaced and undeserved for either General’s. “The son pretty much ordered his father’s assassination, and Phasma carried out the deed using poison.” When Archex said nothing, Finn added: “you suspected.”

“I thought it was Snoke. It might still have been.”

“So maybe your loyalty would be better placed with us.” 

At that, the Elite Trooper looked at the ex-trooper and said in a low voice:

"Look, I didn't know what it felt like to have a full stomach until Brendol Hux found me. I'd never slept off the sand, never gone a night without waking to rats or sand fleas or something worse nibbling at me. The other kids were cruel, the adults were worse. That's what the New Republic did. Ignores poor backwater planets and funnels money to the rich planets that can afford to have a voice in the Senate. Who spoke for Jakku? No one. Who spoke for the boy I was? No one. Who spoke for Rey ?"

“No one speaks for me but me,” Rey retorted, but Archex continued, 

“But when they blew the Hosnian System..." he paused. "Maybe that’s why I'm sitting here with you.”

Poe had heard enough to grunt in approval. “Finn doesn't even remember where he’s from, or his family. He knows he had one, and that he was taken from them. He wasn’t loyal, he was drilled into obedience. On Jakku, he snapped when the orders to shoot the villagers came. That started a whole series of events.”

“The destruction of the Hosnian system. That was the breaking point for many people. Even Kylo Ren. I think that affected the manner in which he treated me after he took me on Takodana.” Rey mused. “Like he’d seen enough for one day.” 

It was one of the memories that had passed through the bond; one of the tears in his soul, that made him doubt his “strength” : the compassion he still could feel. The sudden extinction of billions of lives had shaken him.

“He came for me.” Rey suddenly blurted, “He descended on Takodana to find me.” Then she added: “It was Hux that suggested using the planet-killer. Ben protested. Twice.”

Finn looked at her: “Pillow-talk?”

But Archex spoke over him: “Hux?” Then he got up. “I have to get back to my post.”

Poe interjected: “What for, to guard the Leader of a ruthless organization that’s already falling apart?”

“Every organization falls apart.” 

Luke had joined them silently, almost stealthily. “Hubris begets Nemesis. Then the cycle begins anew. The Jedi bred their own enemy, after they thought to extinguish the Sith. They thought to exterminate the Darkness. You can’t exterminate the Darkness: you have to befriend it.

“Poe, Rey, let the man go. Ben Solo will need him more than you, Rey. Archex, tell him what I just said: that I understand. That I’m sorry. And that we'll hide the kids… and find the _Colossus.”_

**

“Ben Solo was never going to conform to the Jedi code” she stated after they walked far enough from the cafeteria to have some relative privacy. “He’s too...passionate.”

“And so are you.” Luke spoke gently. “You balance each other out.” 

“After you left I thought of all kinds of ways to _save_ you. I even thought of Force-Projecting myself to where I thought you were. Well, more where Leia would be. Alright, I’d written _you_ off. I never imagined you could succeed. Anyway, Master Yoda talked me out of it.”

“Master Yoda? But- “

“Later. Chewie came back and I did go with him. I saw you “scavenged” the texts on board the _Falcon_. I did read them.

“In them is a story of two lovers that developed a Force-Bond between them. They weren’t always lovers, they had started as enemies, but one Force-healed the other and they Bonded. Into something called a Dyad.”

“Master Luke! I _can_ heal with the Force; I did, I healed Ben!”

That shook the grumpy Master: “By the Maker, woman— ” 

“And we can pass things, physical things, like hair-ties!”

He looked at her in shocked surprise for a moment.

He’d seen them touch hands in the little hut. It hadn’t been a Force-projection, then. They had _actually_ touched through light-years of space, as if they’d opened a portal, a door through hyper-space. A Dyad was a  _ construct  _ of the Force itself; it served a purpose much greater than the Bond between Master and Padawan. 

Then he said: “I’m sorry this all fell on you, Rey nobody from nowhere. You were chosen, by the Force, to save Ben.”

“But he won’t return to the Light. Not exclusively, not as a Jedi. He _knows_ the Darkness.”

“The Darkness is there, undeniable and indestructible. Maybe he can reign in his temper a bit? For you? For Love?”

Rey felt numb with exhaustion, but she nodded. “I think so. The Force wants balance. Now it’s out of balance.”

“How so?”

“Snoke is dead, Ben is… changing. I am somewhere in between too. You are the most powerful Light-wielder in the Galaxy; Snoke pursued you as his nemesis for years. How are you still alive?”

She hadn’t meant to be cruel, but the last thing she needed was for Ben to regress and replace Snoke in the scope of things. It had almost happened. 

But Luke just looked at her before saying:

“I’m barely alive. I’m dying. The medics found something in me. It’s killing me and they can’t cure it. I’m still alive because I have to complete Ben’s training.”

**

They reached for each other during the night shift. Unsure how the Bond would hold between them, they merged their bodies very gently, wary their passions would rupture it at a crucial moment. 

Ben was grateful for the tenderness. It was as much a proof of her acceptance of him as her holding tight and facing his tempest had been. 

He pushed the damp hair out of her face and looked at her face in rapt adoration, and she hugged as much of him as she could in a bed that stretched across half a Galaxy.

“Archex should be back by tomorrow. He’s bringing someone with him. Try to be nice: last time it didn’t go so well between you.”

“Someone… Who?”

“Finn. FN-2187. He’s volunteered to assist you for a while.”

“You mean to assess me. What on earth did you tell them?”

“I told them we are together. I couldn’t hide it, for kriff’s sake” she added hastily, “I had bruises all over me: it was either love-bites or torture. They _did_ think it was torture at first. They were upset.”

Solo was silent now. He’d worn his usual full-body armor but his staff had stared at his kiss-stung lips and known he’d not exactly “conquered the girl”.

“What about... did you? Did you go to the medic?” He stumbled over the words, feeling terribly foolish. 

Her answer was just barely audible: “I didn’t.”

“Why not?”

“Because.” There was a finality to her tone he hadn’t expected. A commitment. 

A demand.

His heart beat so strongly he barely heard her add: 

“Luke thinks we’re something called a Dyad in the Force.”

Loneliness was gone. The Dark Void he had surrendered to all these years could only be filled with Light. 

“But why?” he asked. She’d already answered him as to why him. He tried again: “Why you?”

“I am the only one strong enough for _you_ my Supreme Monster,” she laughed, then said in all seriousness, "there is no Light without Darkness. There _is_ emotion. I will not deny it. I love you, Ben Solo.”

Again, his heart swelled almost to bursting. _Thank you_ , he thought, but what he said was:

“I love you too, Rey of Jakku.” And then he thought: _when we are reunited, I will give you a proper name... my name._

“Oh and Hux will probably want to kill you. Or get rid of you some way. Be wary of poison.”

And on that happy thought, the Bond faded. 

***

In the morning, Rey was introduced to Rose Tico so she could be put to work fixing and upgrading the eclectic collection of ships and vehicles that made up the Resistance fleet. There seemed to be more than she expected to be after the solid rout they had suffered only three weeks ago. 

“With Luke Skywalker with us, and the huge blow that was dealt to the First Order - may the Force forever sing Holdo’s name in Hava - a lot of systems are hoping to help us win now. A lot of industrials too,” she added, disgust clear on her face, “I hate that we have to deal with those, especially after what I saw on Canto Bight.”

Rose told her about their failed mission to “pop” the fleet out of the active tracker’s reach and Rey was amazed at the story. 

“So while I was arguing with Luke and then fighting with Ben you guys did all that? You were on _the Supremacy_ at the same time as me?”

“Yeah; what _were_ you doing on _the Supremacy_?”

Rey had only told bits and pieces of her stay on the First Order Fleet, but now she felt she could unpack and share the story with this young woman. If Rose loved Finn the ex-stormtrooper, maybe she could understand how she herself felt about Ben Solo.

There was much to tell: the Bond, the trust, Snoke, the proposal. Then the capture - “Yeah, the terms of the cease-fire surprised us. But Leia said she felt something good was happening, so the Resistance relented going after you. We waited.”

Rey nodded, then continued the tale: how she had discovered the foundlings, and convinced Ben to rescue them. 

How she had discovered just how tortured Ben Solo had been to become Kylo Ren. 

And how her trust in him had helped him let the Light back in. 

“So, you did turn him.”

Rey thought for a second. “I would say I brought him balance. You can’t be all Dark or all Light, the world isn’t black and white.”

Rose nodded before adding: “and now you’re together. Finn told me; it’s why he volunteered to go back: he’s going to find who else would leave if they could.”

***

Captain Cardinal shut FN-2187 — now FN-8721 — into the transport and headed out to meet with his special detachment to exchange information and get a proper uniform for his newest trooper. 

These men were mostly conscripts and child-soldiers that had had a difficult time with the destruction of the New Republic and expressed relief at Snoke’s demise. They had participated in the recent purges with satisfaction. They had spent the last few days in close company of the remaining Knights of Ren and the Supreme Leader and Archex finished the meeting feeling their loyalties were well established. He could integrate Finn within their ranks. 

He just had to re-introduce the two men first. 

While on their way back to the fleet, Finn had shown him the long scar that adorned his back and told him of the short but intense confrontation on star-killer base. He’d also told him about his relationship with Phasma, and Archex had been impressed by the trooper’s courage. But when he realised General Hux had seen the man’s face, he was a bit doubtful. 

“I’ll just keep my helmet on at all times. I’ll do it.” 

**

Finn had many reasons to stay away from the First Order, not the least being that he had been tagged a traitor, and would be shot on sight. But he had reasons to infiltrate his old ranks as well: to find out if Kylo Ren had indeed changed as much as Rey had told them. 

It had been an intense first week between the Skywalker twins when Chewie brought the old Jedi Master back, and at the end, Luke had looked even worse than when he’d first disembarked from the Falcon. Everyone had been walking on eggs, the fierce arguments totally unexpected when the Resistance had been hoping to find the Last Jedi for years. 

Finn had heard Luke argue how the Dark side used sex as a weapon and how it was entirely possible that Ren had seduced Rey to the Dark side. Everyone heard the resounding slap that Leia gave him before storming off. 

Then over the next week, the twins grew close again and hope was back. 

Rumors and intel was coming from their networks: Kylo Ren had ascended the throne and taken command of the First Order, and their tactics had softened. Kylo Ren had killed some of his own Ren. There were some internal conflicts within the Order, involving, of all things, matters of morality and ethics. 

Then three days ago, that conflict had come to a head and the Order had split, and Rey had come home, closely guarded by Captain Cardinal, a man Finn had known as a hard but just trainer for the troops and who had been at odds with Phasma. 

Rey was obviously in love with Kylo Ren. But was the feeling mutual? Did Ben Solo, the son of Han Solo, who had killed his own father before their very eyes - did Ben Solo really exist, or had he tricked Rey like he had tricked Snoke?

Finn thought he could tell, and both Luke and Leia had charged him with finding out: he was a Force-sensitive after all, and if he could get close to the Skywalker heir, he would find confirmation. 

Or kill the monster. 


	19. The Wayward Son

“What else can you tell us about the ships?” Leia asked

“Well, I know where some of these ‘Dead Zones’ are,” Rey answered, “but like I said, we should at least wait until the _Colossus_ is dealt with.”

“But we could get on board, place some bombs, and blow them up after the Colossus is taken out. That way, we take out the whole fleet.” Poe and the few remaining senior staff were itching to get back into the fight. 

“There are a lot of people, ordinary people, on board those ships,” Rey reminded them, “isn’t that why we sent Finn back out there? To find them ?” She thought of all the medical officers and the logistics and techs that had gladly participated in the rescue operation. She thought of the Captain of the Incinerator. These people’s loyalties lay with the new Supreme Leader: Kylo Ren. 

But Ben Solo wouldn't remain Supreme Leader. When she told them so, Luke answered:

“Are you sure that’s not what he wanted, to become Supreme Leader, to head the Empire like Darth Vader wanted?”

“If he did, that ambition passed soon enough when he got the role. He hates it.” He hadn’t exactly said so, but he was ready to run away with her anywhere she took him. _After_ the _Colossus_. 

“Well whatever he chooses to do, the First Order _has_ to be destroyed. And now that you’re back, the cease-fire is ended.” They all gaped at Poe as he said those words. 

“We have to find the _Colossus_ first,” Leia announced. 

“We have to move the _foundlings_ first,” Rey insisted. 

“Then Commander D’Acy can contact our people on Naboo and the other systems that have always sided with us to find some place for them.” Leia turned to D’Acy.

“I’m sure some of the kids can tell us where they came from and be returned there,” the commander said, but Rey interrupted:

“We can’t let the scandal break while the First Order can retaliate. We promised the directors of the Orphanages protection!”

“Protection!”

“Supreme Leader Kylo Ren gave his word,” the desert orphan said, “General Hux is possibly more concerned about the continued 'image of Virtue' of the First Order than of the well-being of the kids.”

“And that’s not what Ren is concerned about? 'Law and Order and Virtue' ?” asked Poe.

“Ben? Oh, you should have _seen_ him. He was devastated when I told him about the kids. He took to the task with such determination. And when he came to visit the school on Lannik and the kids saw him, they all rushed and hugged him and he- he…” She couldn’t continue. The lashes on his back explained his will to save the children. The memory of him wiping his eyes caused her to catch her breath. 

She turned to Poe and Luke and the others who still doubted that the monster could be saved: “He _suffered_ under Snoke,” she said in a hoarse murmur, but the ones who were closest heard her. 

Poe looked at General Organa, who nodded, then he said: “Nien Nunb, get your ship and the other’s ready. We’ll be looking for the Colossus starting tomorrow - and keep looking for it until we find it and bring it down.” The Sullustan saluted and darted to find the rest of the squadron captains. 

Rey exhaled, and Luke moved forward: “We'll continue the lessons, if you still need a teacher?”

“I do.”

***

It was strange to march in rank and file again, strange to feel half-smothered, half-shielded by a helmet again. As the detachment made its way to the Supreme Leader’s quarters, Finn - _FN-8721! -_ wondered again what had possessed him to volunteer for such an insane mission. 

Find out if there are other mutineers or dissidents. Find out if Ben Solo is alive and well and living on the _Steadfast_ _disguised_ as an Evil Warlord, or if it was all just a ruse to seduce the Jedi apprentice. 

Kill the bastard if he subverted her. 

They came to a turbo-lift and some of his new squad-mates continued their quick introductions before asking him again about being a prisoner of the Resistance. While they rode the lift up he told the story he had learned by heart.

“I wasn’t in a cell for very long,” he lied, “I had no weapon, no communications device, and no loyalty to Phasma, so they kind of trusted I wouldn’t cause them trouble.” That last one was the truth. Captain Cardinal had told him to use that angle to get them to accept him. “But then, when they left Jakku, they left me behind. I heard some good things about the new Supreme Leader. Better things, any way; so when the Captain found me I accepted the ride back to the ranks.”

Through Force-sensitivity, he was able to pick up a range of emotions, but the most prevalent one was internal conflict: these men were at a crossroads in their lives, caught between the life they’d always known, and the realization that the First Order was changing. Where it was headed was anyone’s guess, but Kylo Ren’s new policies towards slavery and children were promising. 

“Jakku, huh? That’s where his woman is from. She’s quite something, to make him enforce the policy like that. In only two weeks, too,” one of his new squad-made said.

“She helped him kill Snoke. He owed her big time,” said another. 

“Snoke and the eight Praetorian guards. What a massacre that must have been. She’s strong: did you hear how she leapt across the Command-shuttle’s bay?”

“Yeah, they’re still talking about it in the mess. The Supreme Leader followed her, too.”

“He’d follow her anywhere.”

“Hush!” said the Sergeant - BN-4546 - “Let’s not give FN-8721 funny notions about the boss before he actually meets him.”

“Yes sergeant ! Anyway welcome to the Supreme Leader’s personal guard, Fn.”

He was glad he still remembered the drills because his mind was caught in a whirlwind of surprises, and only years of regimented marching in silence kept him from stumbling and gasping out loud. 

Captain Cardinal met with the detachment and inspected them briefly when they reached the door to the Ren’s quarters. 

Archex came to stand directly in front of Finn, and stared him down through two helmet visors: “Don’t embarrass me, trooper,” was all he said, but Finn understood the greater meaning: _Observe before passing judgment_. 

The comm chimed, the door slid open, and FN-2187 - _8721!_ \- walked in to meet Kylo Ren. 

*

The first thing he noticed was the restraint the Ren was exerting over himself. _Darth Tantrum_ appeared calm, yet strong emotions rolled off him. 

The second thing he noticed was the great scar bisecting the warlord’s face. It was just as long and ugly as described, but it suited the dark man’s pale face like an adornment rather than a wound, like the proof of a lesson learned. 

The third was the emotion that finally became clear: “Is Rey safe? Is she well treated?” 

“Yes Sir, she is,” the ex-stormtrooper answered reflexively, “though it took a while to believe what she told us.”

“Indeed.” Ren said nothing more, and Finn saw that he was wary of saying things that might reflect badly on the Jedi-aspirant. He wasn’t about to boast about his relationship with her, then. To say anything about it would be... indelicate. 

Finn realized the man’s feelings for the Scavenger from Jakku did run deep. 

Suddenly, the warlord looked straight at him, moved a step towards him and raised his chin as if picking up a surprising scent. Then he nodded to himself and sat at his desk chair before he motioned for Finn to stand at ease. 

_He must have just realized I’m Force-sensitive_ , thought Finn. 

“Luke training you?” Kylo asked. 

The question, in it’s earnest simplicity, caught the ex-stormtrooper by surprise. 

“Reluctantly.” 

Kylo nodded. “If you want, if both of us survive, I’ll show you the other half of the Force.”

“The Dark Side? No thanks.”

Kylo shrugged. “You don’t have to perform blood-sacrifices to work it. It’s damn useful in battle.” 

“When this is over, there will be peace.”

“Will there? That would be something.” Pensive, the Supreme Leader got up again. The meeting was over, “you are dismissed, trooper. Send Cardinal in after you exit.”

*

Archex stood watching his commander, waiting. 

“Well, he didn’t try to kill me,” the Ren told his trusted trooper. 

“You think he would, Sir? Maybe this isn’t such a good idea…” 

“Leave it. I’d rather have him close.” 

“What do we do now, Sir?” For the first time in his career, Archex felt doubt as to the Order’s future. Not just its current Supreme Leader’s continued role at the head of it, but of the whole Order’s future. The schism he could feel within the Order was not as spectacular as the Supremacy’s rupture had been, but the _Colossus’_ flight spoke volumes about the purpose of power for an important fraction of the senior class. 

And Hux’s views on power seemed ambivalent as best.

**

They had been lucky with that last connection but now the Force-Bond was being finicky, and they had barely been able to exchange intel before it winked out. Now after almost an hour of fruitless meditation and repeated attempts, Rey gave up and decided to take a walk around the base instead. 

The mobile Cantina was still active at this hour, Poe and Rose playing guitar and singing, an occasional brave friend joining in a chorus when they knew it. The fighter ships were ready, the destinations assigned, she would leave tomorrow on board the Falcon with Chewie… and Luke. 

They would pick up a first group of passengers to bring them only a few systems over to a recommended orphanage. The trip would be short. 

The stakes were high. 

Her steps led her to the headquarters where she saw D’Acy and Leia discuss in quiet tones and seeing her, Leia beckoned her over. 

Rey joined them, quiet. 

“Lots of bets taking place on the First Order’s future,” Leia said. “Our sources in the high finance and industry world are trading stocks at an unusual high rate. Nobody knows what side to be on.” Leia paused. “You did good work, Rey.”

“I had help. Some of the people there… they’re good people. They just… believed the propaganda. And some… didn’t know where else to go after the Hosnian system.”

“Tell me about him, Rey. Tell me about my son,” Leia pleaded. 

Rey thought for a moment - _where to start?_ \- but the most important presented itself to her almost immediately.

“Killing Snoke… that’s what freed him. And I guess my being trapped with him on board ship… that gave him a path back to the Light.” _Or at least, to me,_ she thought, knowing Ben would never be a Jedi again. 

The older women waited for more, and Rey added: “Now that I know him, I miss him. Can you believe that? But then again, he was always there, he was always in my life.” And she told them of the Dyad, and of the Bond that had been forged by the Force well before they met.

“A Dyad...” Leia wondered. She looked at Rey expectantly, and now Rey understood what Ben’s mother wanted.

“Well, he’s really tall, and handsome - except for that ugly scar I gave him - but it’s not that bad really” she added quickly, “and he’s incredibly strong and muscular and he’s got that _hair.”_ She paused. “And he’s gentle. Well, he can _be_ gentle.” Then she blushed crimson right to the root of her hair and D'Arcy let out a shocked laugh, looking at Leia, who looked embarrassed and pleased at the same time. 

“Yes well… he was always a… a _passionate_ boy.” 

“Oh Leia, Ben was _never_ going to submit to the Jedi code,” Rey explained, “and neither will I.”

Then Rey thought of something and rummaged around in her pack for a minute before carefully pulling out a square of folded paper she’d pilfered from Ben’s desk. She gave it to Leia.

Leia ran a finger gingerly over the charcoal study of hands, careful not to smudge them. 

Ben’s hands.

“He’s gotten very good,” she said, a tear rolling down her cheek. 


	20. Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> His beloved Order had stopped being the safehaven he had first sought. Reveling in violence to please an irate master was a path he had forsaken for the life of his Dyad half. 
> 
> ‘Leia said you can come back.’
> 
> Rey had told him. Archex had told him. But everytime he considered it, all he could see was his father’s form falling silently into the fog.

A week passed. 

All the children had been relocated, and separated ones reunited with their original ship-groups. Two-thirds of the kids could go home if the conflict could only end. 

Only a few people were left on the Resistance base and Rey spent most of her time studying with Rose who was still delighted by the stack of engineering books that Rey had brought with her and was helping the Scavenger improve her skills while upgrading her own. Both women were intent on their studies. 

When she wasn’t re-wiring a console or machining a new housing for a broken engine part, the Jedi-aspirant - a title she wasn’t sure she wanted anymore - would study with Jedi Master Luke, who was in turn adapting his teaching to reflect the insights he had gained over years of bitter introspection.

They’d shared the Healing ability, the old Master refining the technique with his personal experience of the Force and knowledge from parts of the texts that were finally making sense to him after years of frustration. 

Luke also badgered her about Ben, and Rey could sense both shame and hope coming from the old man. 

They were in an empty hangar bay that morning, the sun warming Rey’s face and hands while Luke told her of meeting the Knights of Ren while hunting down some artifact he didn’t even remember. 

“They’re brutes. But they impressed Ben, and from what you tell me, Snoke whispered promises to Ben about being part of their group. We defeated them, pretty much humiliated them - _Maker_ I was strong back then - but Ben was already chafing under the collar and they promised him freedom and an outlet for his darker strengths and… I didn’t know how to manage that very well.”

“How would you manage it now?” Rey asked. 

“I wonder if the Jedi used the war as an excuse to use violence as much as the Sith did.” Luke mused. “Like they had the right of it, so everything they did was justified.” 

“You did call out their hubris,” she reminded him of their talk in the First Jedi Temple on Ahch-To.

“How do you manage power that ultimately destroys what it touches?” Luke didn’t quite know. “I suppose the first step is education. Suppression and shame certainly didn’t work.”

“Maybe Ben can help with that,” Rey said, “He certainly didn’t spend all of his time destroying things. In fact, I found him drawing and writing poetry a lot. He likes music too.”

Luke thought for a moment. “Ben did seem calmer and better focused after he spent some time doing calligraphy. He liked to join his friends Tai and Hennix and sing when Tai brought out his baliset.” He looked at Rey. “Sculpting. Shaping matter using the Force. You may have something there.” 

Rose found them and it was time to finish the mobile comms console they had started on two days ago. 

On the way there, they spoke, both women were starting to seriously miss their men. 

“I never thought I’d miss _that_ so much,” Rey groaned.

“Are you kidding me? I think ‘recovering’ would be the appropriate word in your case. _I_ miss the kisses.” 

“We kiss aplenty I’ll have you know. It’s just… I get excited.” 

Rose rolled her eyes. 

Rey stood up to get a pair of wire pliers then looked down and made a face.

“What’s wrong?” Rose asked, suddenly worried.

Rey put a hand over her midriff, where a cramp was starting.

“I’m bleeding,” she said, and was both relieved and disappointed.

***

“What’s _this_ , Supreme Leader?” Hux spat the words out at Ben, brandishing a datapad, fury clear on his face, “The children we evacuated are nowhere to be found. They’ve all been moved to other institutions, their records erased!”

“It was for their safety, Hux.” Ben kept his calm. Even with the Force, even with his remaining Knights and a detachment of eight loyal guards, he was still one man against an army. An army Hux had helped put together and commanded for the past four years. An army that obeyed the new Supreme Leader only because he had cowed Hux into submission when he had usurped the throne. 

“As long as we have dissension in our ranks, the kids are in danger. When the _Colossus_ is found and the mutineer crew and staff properly prosecuted and either executed or discharged and jailed we can come forward and announce our purge of these elements successful and the Organisation back to its “morally superior” state.”

Hux and Pryde both made faces at that. “We could be entangled for years in trials and scandals,” the old general intoned dryly, “the cost in ressources could be… prohibitive. We should consider a swifter way of dealing justice, one that would leave fewer traces. Fewer… doubts.”

Kylo Ren reclined in his throne, hoping his apparent nonchalance also conveyed the image of a powerful predator considering his next meal. “Are you suggesting we blow up the star-destroyer?”

Hux scoffed, “Gods no, those things take years to construct. Merely that we dispense with proving every single one of the traitors aboard the Colossus as guilty and execute them accordingly. We don’t need years of witness testimony then.”

 _We don’t need embarrassing witnesses,_ was the unvoiced implication. 

“We promised those witnesses protection, need I remind you.”

“General Pryde and I think we may extend our protection to them by offering _,_ ” Hux almost spat the word, “ _offering_ them to join the ranks. Most of them are of age anyway. And considering what they’ve been through, it would be a mercy not to subject their families to deal with their dishonor.” 

Kylo stood up and walked right into Hux’s face who stood his ground as long as he could until the Warlord's superior mass literally pushed him back a step. “The dishonor is _ours_ for letting it happen in the first place. I had to _personally_ kill two of my Rens to enforce our moral code. I don’t see you going around getting _your_ hands dirty.” He turned to Pryde. “Are we a _lawful_ organization, or are we a lawless one?” 

“We have the power to make our own laws,” said the old general, and Kylo suppressed a cringe. 

“Not right now, with half our fleet still floating as debris around Crait, and a rogue star-destroyer plotting who-knows-what against us, we don’t. Not if we can’t even enforce the rules and regulations we already have in place.” Now he was exasperated, and he waved them off. “You are dismissed. Inform me when you find _the Colossus_.”

They marched out, and he exhaled a long-held breath. Hux was as ambitious and fearless as ever, and he wondered not for the first time why he had grasped the reigns of power, wondering if the prime reason wasn’t simply because he had hoped to spare his mother and hold Rey in his arms a moment longer. He thought he understood his grandfather better. His father. 

He had grasped a Manka cat by the tail. Letting go meant setting the Order free to crush systems as it pleased, and the first thing it would do was to turn on him and slash him to ribbons before finding and attacking the Resistance again. Holding on meant spending hours managing the senior staff’s egos and ambitions, while maintaining course towards a goal that seemed more and more distant and vague. His beloved Order had stopped being the safehaven he had first sought. Reveling in violence to please an irate master was a path he had forsaken for the life of his Dyad half. 

_‘Leia said you can come back.’_

Rey had told him. Archex had told him. But everytime he considered it, all he could see was his father’s form falling silently into the fog. 

And Voe. 

And San Tekka. 

And the others. 

So many others. 

Here, holding on to the Manka's tail, he could prevent more. Or at least curb the Beast’s appetite. 

**

Finn held his breath as General Hux and General Pryde marched out, fury barely contained. “I can’t believe he put promises to a bunch of… _strays_ above the Order’s mission.” The red-head blew out, then hushed when he caught the side-eye the older man gave the detachment of red-clad guards waiting for the Supreme Leader to exit the room. 

The two quickly made for the lift, anger marking their every step. Some of the men he stood with straitened, as if readying themselves for violence. Finn did the same. 

Over the past several days, he had mixed as well as he could with troopers on this ship, fearing being recognized, but so far no one had called him out. To most, the traitor FN-2187 had been an ordinary face about to be ordinarily executed, and the catastrophe that had hit the _Supremacy_ had killed many that might have been close enough to see him. Only Hux himself could recognize him, and maybe not even then; to Hux, he really was just a number, even if a particularly troublesome one. 

To his teammates, he was quickly becoming one of them, and he felt them progressively attach their destinies to a man that had terrified the ranks for years before killing the monster that had reduced them all into slavery, and now was showing colors other than unrelenting black. 

The door hissed open, the sergeant - who called himself Bonn - called them to attention as the Supreme Leader walked out, looking for a moment as if all the weight of the Galaxies was on his hunched shoulders. Then he lifted his head and they fell in behind him. 

*

Finn was called into the little office, Captain Cardinal soon joining them.

“I hope you didn’t get too comfortable in your little cabin, Finn,” Kylo Ren started, and for a moment the Resistance fighter thought he was _fired_. “Archex here is going to give you some new assignments, but first, we’d like to hear your impressions of this past week. For one thing, you chose not to kill me. That may just be self-preservation, but I suspect something more. So go on, tell us.”

Finn took a deep breath. Lying to one of the most powerful force-users in the galaxy would be impossible, and after this first week, it would be counterproductive as well. 

“My squad-mates’ loyalty have definitely turned to you, now that you’ve announced the end of the child-soldier conscriptions.” That had upset Hux. The program had been developed by Brendol Hux; it was one of the rare things the young General had inherited from his father, that, his ice-blue eyes, and his ruthlessness. 

“I haven’t had a chance to mingle with many others since I’ve got here, but I’ve heard excitement and anticipation at finding the _Colossus_ and bringing the rogues to justice. Some of those, um, arses, would treat all their subordinates like shit.” He paused before continuing, understanding somethings better as he tried to explain them: “There is freer talk among the ranks, Sir” - he mouthed the word carefully, nuanced with something he hadn’t expected to express for Kylo Ren - “by freeing those children, you showed compassion and, restored some dignity to the ranks.

“Hux may think the troops are enthusiastic for the hunt and the prospect of enforcing strict obedience and virtue and all that… but that’s not how they feel at all. It’s the hope of dignity that motivates them.”

While all three men digested the significance of the troop’s mood, Finn gathered his courage to ask something that had bothered him for weeks: “and I have a question.” 

The Supreme Leader raised an eyebrow but nodded.

“You didn’t kill me. Why not?” 

Cardinal hissed. “You shouldn’t question the Leader’s mercy-”

“No, it’s alright, Archex, it’s a valid question.” He looked at the dusk-skinned trooper, then said: “The Tuanul village massacre was a mistake. I knew almost as soon as I gave the order. I saw you, I saw that you knew, and I left it at that.” It was that tiny flicker of Light inside him that had stayed his hand. “Maybe it’s because you’re Force-sensitive, maybe because having you in the ranks, I thought you would be on my side.”

“But on Star-killer base… you called me a traitor?” Finn remembered the rage the Darkside-user had projected onto him, it had almost stunned him. Something within him had risen to the challenge; dignity.

“I’d just killed my father. I’d felt billions die not hours ago. You’d rushed to protect a girl that was very obviously becoming important to me. Something told me you had more value alive than dead.” He smirked before adding: “But you had to be _chastised_ , first.”

“Thanks. I think.” Finn replied. 

“Anyway, I was right; and now you have an even better chance at proving your worth: you’re going to be reassigned from squadron to squadron over the next weeks until we find that rogue Star-destroyer. Archex will coordinate the transfers. You will report your assessment of the troop’s morale with each transfer. This is dangerous, delicate work: do you accept it?”

“Yes, Sir,” answered Finn. Then he surprised himself: “Will I come back to this detachment when we find the ship?”

“To guard the Supreme Leader ?” 

“To guard Ben Solo.” 

“I’ll consider it.” 

***

_*Well, now I miss you.*_

Rey was squinting into the setting sun. She had a bantha-wool vest on; the seasons were turning on Ajan Kloss, soon it would be winter. This high north, there might even be snow.

Ben just looked at her glowing, golden face, a silly smile on his own. He pulled her close to him, started reaching for the hem of her pants, but she pushed his hand away. “Not now.”

“Ah?”

“I have my period.”

“Ah.” They were quiet for a moment. A silence that spoke volumes.

“I can wait,” he said after a while. 

“I’ll tell you when,” she answered, and he nodded.

**

Poe ran in excitedly: “We found it! We found the _Colossus_!” 

“So soon?” A meeting was called immediately. 

The rogue Star-destroyer was in orbit around Ord Mantell, only a couple hours away; it was in such a visible, vulnerable position they had to act fast. 

“Rose, do we have active tracking tech yet ?” 

Rose ground her teeth, “Not yet. We’d need a much bigger ship to put that kind of computing power on board. No, someone will have to slip on board and plant a tracker.”

Everyone looked at Rey. Then they looked at Rose. 

The women scrambled some kit together and ran for the ARC-170 Poe had just vacated. 

“Wait wait wait…” Poe stopped them, “do we tell your boyfriend?”

Rey stopped, considering. “ _Dyad-half._ I would, but maybe not yet. Let’s at least get the tracker on board, we can discuss tactics later.”

Leia nodded. “Agreed. Now hurry.”


	21. The Beast

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Inside, it felt like years of practiced discipline and celibacy were coming apart. He stripped and took himself in hand, not just once but twice, but the quick relief only left him chaffed and sore.

“What do you think it’s doing there?” asked Rose.

“I don’t know. Poe what do you know about Ord Mantell?” 

“Well, it was part of the Old Empire for a long time, so I suspect there may still be ties for your mutineers there. What kind of people rebelled? Why are we fighting them?”

“They got upset we took their toys away. And by toys I mean girls and boys, real young ones.”

Silence. 

“I suppose we’re right to fight them, then.” Dameron queried BB-8 : “Buddy, find out if there are known slaver outposts nearby, or contacts on the planet itself?”

After a few minutes BB-8 beeped some information back to them.

“Black Sun? That was ages ago. Are they still active?”

“At least one of the lechers on board that ship is a veteran from the Empire. A Lieutenant-colonel Menkin.” Rey remembered the purge on the _Absolution_ that had injured Kafir Trembley, and killed nearly all the kids they had found. She felt fire start inside her.

“If the ship is running on a skeleton crew, maybe we can commandeer it ourselves. Kill the milf-fuckers.”

“Kill the… Rey, a skeleton crew on board a Star-destroyer is at least a thousand crew and technicians. We’re not commandeering a Star-destroyer.” Poe didn’t like the Jedi-aspirant’s idea at all. “We’re just gonna stick some trackers on it-

“We don’t have to kill all of them, just-

“Rey, we’re just sticking trackers on it. That is _all_. Rose, I think those upgrades to the bafflers did the trick, BB-8 and I were able to get close enough to see them without being seen.”

“We’ll have to get a lot closer than that to get the trackers on them.” She thought for a minute. “We’ll shoot the trackers at them. Literally. Rey, help me modify a few things.”

Rey and Rose set to work on one of the cannons to adapt its barrel size, then they got to work to make the magnetic base of each tracker “extra-sticky”. They had ten trackers to work on. 

***

Finn had a few close calls with ex-squad brothers during the next two weeks, making for awkward interactions hiding behind locker doors or towels, or putting his mask on before his pants; but the squad he was currently in was markedly different. 

He came away from the near-misses with a feeling of dread: he’d bumped into at least one without his mask on, and hadn’t been recognized. _At all_. Not even a glimmer - in eyes that looked dull and lifeless. 

There was only one logical explanation: his ex-brother had been reprogrammed beyond recognition; his memory wiped. 

The squadron he had been transferred to this week all seemed strangely quiet: there was little banter, less laughter. Orders, questions asked to accomplish said orders, little else. Stormtroopers were not known for having great personalities; but this was something else. These men and women were drones. 

After the third day he broke radio silence and communicated with Archex to let him know what was going on.

“Are you sure, Finn-8721?” 

Finn had never felt so relieved at hearing his own name, even appended, “Yes Sir. Get me outta here, Sir. I’ve been faking it, but the Sergeant’s been looking at me. If they find me out, they’ll....”

His teeth chattered with fright.

“Right. I’ll come pick you up myself.” Cardinal had heard of Hux’s program having been ‘enhanced’. The new technique was experimental. “I’ll be there by 20h00 hours.”

**

Kylo Ren was almost regretting not having gone on the little operation to retrieve the rogue officer on Nanthri III. At least, _after_ he’d let Rey go. 

Now he was chafing, pacing in his quarters, in the meeting rooms - even on the bridge - like a predator trapped in a cage. Staff and crew avoided him where possible, but some looked at him expectantly, especially Hux, and he wondered if they thought he had reverted to someone they were better used to.

If their Supreme Leader engaged the enemy right now - any enemy - the First Order’s faith in him would be restored, re-affirming his grip on power. 

“General Hux. Have you found a system planning some insurgency that needs putting down recently?” 

And he lusted for blood. 

“Sir, whatever the Resistance is planning right now, they’re being very discreet about it. One would almost think they’ve upheld the cease-fire.”

Kylo was sensing some feelings of satisfaction from his First General. “That’s very generous of them.” 

“Find and propose to me a few target systems: mining colonies, planet-states - I don’t care. Something that we can crush...”

“Yes Supreme Leader!” was the enthusiastic response before Kylo added: “without destroying the whole planet.”

“Ah. Yes, Sir.” 

All throughout the rest of the shift his blood was up, and he found himself in need of relief. When he finally walked off the bridge, his crimson guard detachment fell in behind him, and Archex sensed the storm about to break; he decided against telling the Warlord about one ‘trooper’s difficulties. At the Ren’s quarters, the mood was confirmed by the way the door was metaphorically slammed in his face. 

Inside, it felt like years of practiced discipline and celibacy were coming apart. He stripped and took himself in hand, not just once but twice, but the quick relief only left him chaffed and sore. 

He wanted to bite and suck. He bit his lip and tasted blood. He wanted to impale and pound in and just _fuck_ _fuck fuck_ until his balls contracted almost back into his body and he could roar his climax like he was some Manka himself. 

He was so riled up he knew he would hurt Rey if she appeared to him right now. He had never been a rapist. But he had been a killer. 

He _was_ a killer. 

The pressure stayed with him for what seemed like hours before ebbing away. 

***

Rey looked up from what she was doing. A tide of Darkness was coming through the Bond like a storm surge and she braced herself. 

For long minutes she breathed through her nose, as a sexual tension so violent she thought she might come in her pants washed over her senses, then left her empty and was replaced with the taste of blood in her mouth. 

How long had they been apart ? 

“We better hurry,” she told Rose, who was looking at her like she might combust, “Ben has been on his best behavior for weeks, but he’s still a Warlord.” 

“What does that mean?”

“He needs to _war_.”

“That’s-”

“He needs to blow things up.” That was Poe who’d just come in to join them in the tiny space where ammo was stocked. The cease-fire had been hard on the Resistance fighters too: to go off in their fighter-planes and blow things up was a thrill few other jobs could match. And when you’ve been at war for six years, Peace seems like an alien state. 

“I have to get back to him - or get him on board that ship -” she pointed in the direction of the _Colossus_ floating only a few clicks away from them, “before he does something... bad.” 

The image of holding a Manka cat by the tail, an expression she’d heard once or twice before, flashed in her mind; and then morphed into something more personal. 

Was Ben Solo a beast she could tame ?

By some unspoken accord, all three increased their speed of assembly.

*

“All right: I’m gonna plot a course for one click away, we shoot six of those things, then jump right back here and see if any of them stuck.” Poe announced. “Beebee-Ate, are you ready? Girls? Go!”

In a flash the huge warship suddenly appeared right before them and Rose shot the six trackers in a short arc, then called : “Done!” and the crew jumped right back to where they were. 

Rose flicked a switch on the bafflers that made the Recon ship “extra-dead” in space.

“Ok, now we wait.”

They followed the six signals on the little screen of the tracking receptor. After a moment, they all swore: all of the devices had been deflected by the ship’s shields and were now floating out into deep space. “Quick, Rose, shut them down. Don’t want to chance someone detecting one of them and alerting defence.” 

They sat in a little group again.

“I can get in there. It’s a skeleton crew right? I lived for almost _three_ weeks on the fully-crewed _Steadfast_ and never got caught.” Well, just the once, but she’d kissed her way free again. 

“Weren’t you granted special privileges in the last week? While you helped them get rid of the ‘stowaways’ ?” smirked Rose. 

“Allright, two weeks. And think of this: even if they find and disable the trackers, I can still communicate with Ben to tell them where I am !”

“The First Order will owe us big time!” Rose was starting to feel optimistic about the break in. Allright, let’s do this.”

“What? No. I go alone.”

“ _I_ should go. Rose, you can pilot this thing to get back to base, right ?”

BB-8 chirped in disapproval. 

“No. I’m going alone, or I’m not going at all. I’m the only one who can do this: I’m a Scavenger, _and_ I’m a Force-user,” she tapped her Lightsaber at her side. Either one of you would slow me down, and I will be moving _fast_.”

They reluctantly agreed. 

The Starfighter had two evac suits, and they had brought a third with them. One of them did fit the tall woman, and they prepared to jump once again close - closer - to the Star-destroyer, send her out the airlock with her trusty pack, and jump back away again. 

They added the remaining trackers to her pack, a mid-range comms device, and some explosives. “Just in case. I could blow a hole on the side of the ship, a hole big enough for a starfighter or transport to come in and board the ship.” 

“Rey. Do not attempt to commandeer the ship by yourself. Promise me.” This was from Rose. They’d only know each other for barely two weeks but already they felt close, as ship engine technicians and orphans can feel, and if Finn loved Rose, then that made her a good person as well. 

“Right Rose, I won’t. Unless I’m absolutely forced to. But how long do you think I’ll be stuck on that ship anyway? Two, three days, tops ?”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if the First Order appeared in the sector today.” 

*

“All right, this is a quick trial,” Poe told her as they both squeezed inside the tiny airlock, “just so you get used to the thrusters. Ready? Rose, we’re going out!”

All the air hissed out and the round door opened into the vastness of near-empty space. Out to her left was the planet and the great ship she would board in a few minutes. Rey looked down into nothingness, naively hoping to see the ground. Used to climbing great heights, she didn’t normally have vertigo, but this… 

There was nothing below them. 

There wasn't even gravity to push against. 

Poe stepped out, grasping the hand holds on each side of the airlock, gave a short test-burst of his thrusters, then pushed himself out into open space. He gave himself another short burst and came back to the ship. Then he put his hand out for her.

Through the two-way radio, she heard his voice, calm and reassuring : “Bet you never thought you’d be going on a _space-walk_ two months ago.”

Rey shook her head, but of course he couldn’t see her through the tint-window helmet. “Nope,” she answered, before taking his hand and stepping into the void.

He had her fly all around the little starfighter, towards and away from it, so she could gauge the thruster’s push and the control’s responsiveness.

Her heart beat wildly everytime she was more than a few meters away, and it took real effort to get her breathing under control, and keep her stomach from rising up and emptying into the bubble of her spacesuit, but eventually a sense of wonder took over. 

Out here, floating in star-dotted blackness, she was _in_ the Force. “I’m ready,” the Jedi-aspirant announced.

*

The _Colossus_ flashed into view, so close she thought she could touch it just by extending her hand, then the port opened, and she pushed herself out towards it. “Good luck!” she heard in her helm, and the starfighter disappeared. 

She gave short bursts toward the ship until she reached the shield. To get through, she needed to push against it gently but firmly, like easing into a bubble; anything too fast would be repelled. 

Once she was through, she sped her way towards the huge hull, in the direction of an area of ports that looked dark and empty: a ‘dead-zone’, if she was lucky. 

“I’m at the hull,” she whispered into the commlink when she touched the huge ferroceramic leviathan. 

“You could just stick the trackers on and come back.”

“No. I want to go in. There must be some foundlings on that ship too.” 

The Scavenger scrambled along the surface for a few meters before crouching, setting her feet against it and activating the special magnets. When she straightened, she was no longer floating alongside the ship, but on top of it, and she trotted along the hull, her balance restored by the illusion of a horizon, looking for an airlock. 

Rose was monitoring ship activity while Rey was looking for a way in. 

“Uh ho.” She spotted a shuttle making its way to one of the hangar bays. Followed by another. 

“Rey, you better hurry,” Poe whispered, “Whatever they were doing on Ord Mantell, it looks like they’re done doing it.”

The Scavenger had maybe minutes before the ship travelled to some unknown destination. If the jump left her in place, the trackers wouldn’t be attached. 

If the jump took her into hyper-space… well, no one travelled the hyper-lanes on the _outside_ of a ship for a reason. 

“Shit.” Rey opened her pack and took out one of the trackers. She could at least attach one to the hull now. 

**

“Fn-8721.”

Finn halted immediately upon hearing the dull monotone of his detachment sergeant. He came sharply to attention, letting his head droop just slightly forward, hoping to give his best impression of a defeated drone. “Sergeant,” he replied, emotionless. 

“Go to the starboard hangar-bay on deck 20. General Hux and a retinue are coming on board, go greet and escort them to the parade grounds on deck 40. Meet the rest of your squad at hangar door S-204. Look sharp.”

“Yes Sergeant.” Finn shuddered at the lifeless tone. He turned and made his way to the turbolift. Hux. _Damn._

“And trooper,” he stopped cold in his tracks, “you will report for maintenance after the parade.” 

At least he’d keep his helmet. He looked at the time: 19h00. Senior staff always had shitty timing. 

**

Ben finally made it out of his quarters and Archex greeted him at the door. He obviously hadn’t slept. His eyes were hollow, his mouth a grim line. Neither spoke for a while as they marched down the corridors towards the lift to the bridge. 

“Sir, I have to go over to the _Dominatrix_ to extract ‘Fn’,” he finally spoke, giving a quick account. “Hux is on his way there for some inspection. He’ll want to see his experimental detachment of ‘super-programmed’ troopers”

“Finn won’t pass inspection.” 

“He won’t Sir.” 

Archex witnessed the struggle taking place inside the Warlord’s head. He waited, feeling the importance of the decision the man would make in the next few minutes. 

The Darksider’s love for the Light-Bearer was the only thing that saved Finn’s soul that day. 

“Bring the Knights, Archex. I’m not sure you can intercept a command by Hux, but the Ren could.” The Captain heaved a deep sigh before catching himself, but Ben pretended not to notice. “Then bring the man here. He’s done enough.”

Finn had infiltrated four detachments on four ships in sixteen days. 

The first lift arrived, taking the Supreme Leader to the bridge of the _Steadfast_ where General Pryde awaited to debrief him before finishing his shift. Cardinal took the second lift to the Ren’s quarters before they all took a shuttle for the _Dominatrix_. 

***

Rey felt the ship’s hull under her feet _tremble_ . The damn airlock wouldn't _open._

“Rey… they're firing up the hyperdrive! _Rey_ !” Rose’s voice was high-pitched with near panic. If you can’t get in, you have to jump off and clear the ship’s shield, now!” 

_Alright, bitch. I’m going in whether you like it or not._ She unclipped her lightsaber, lit it, and plunged it into the center of the transparisteel port. 

From the starfighter, Poe and Rose watched in horror as the Star-destroyer’s engines lit up.

“ _Rey_!” they screamed.


	22. The Belly of the Beast

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Hux passed to the second rank, the dusk-skinned man became certain the General would indeed pass before him, and his grip on his vibro-blade strengthened, his finger discreetly seeking the safety button. 
> 
> He toggled it.

“I’m alright, I’m in!” they heard. Then the _Colossus_ was gone, and Rey with it.

**

Finn had been in the ranks for years, but there was something to the synchronism of this squad’s movement... he was always just a fraction of a second behind. It was as if they were all frighteningly single-minded, and he could see how General Hux would be extremely pleased with himself for this success. 

Supremely pleased.

They marched in cadence to greet the young General’s shuttle, Finn managing to position himself in the back rank of the column, hidden by the movement of the others. If they decided to show off with a flashy weapons drill, though, he was done for. He started sweating. 

Hux walked out, his long coat flowing flamboyantly behind him, his chin up, his fire-red hair impeccable. The ship captain greeted him and after a few words, they marched off and Finn’s squad fell in behind them, marching towards the parade ground. 

_I could kill Hux_ , Finn thought. He was close enough. 

**

“I thought you would be on the _Dominatrix,_ Supreme Leader. Hux will be disappointed.”

Ben vaguely remembered slamming the comm shut. Smashing it, really. He’d had nightmares on and off since Snoke’s murder, lessening as he grew closer to his Scavenger, starting again when she left... but for the past forty-eight hours he had been unable to break free. If they didn’t find that damn ship soon…

“Well you’ll be pleased to know we found an active rebellion on one of our mining moons, Sir. They’ve gone on strike.” General Pryde watched him carefully, a sliver of a smile just below his thin lips’ surface, eyes dead as ever. “They’re threatening to unionize. Nothing you can’t handle, Sir. _Personally_ handle.”

Blood pounded in his ears and for a moment he wondered if he hadn’t indeed been poisoned. “Where?”

“Nakadia, Sir.”

“Take us there.”

For two weeks, his senior staff and he had worked together - for the most part. Now that the most pressing problem of cleaning up the fleet had passed, he’d felt a gap open again, until just the past couple of days, when his darker pulsions had started manifesting themselves again, as if rising from great depths within him. 

He’d tried to repress them under Luke, learned to master them with Snoke… or so he’d thought. The thrill he felt at the prospect of arriving on that mining colony and just slaughtering anyone resisting him told him more about his penchant for the Darkside than he had been willing to admit to himself. 

The Dark had always been with him. Snoke had not put it there... but Snoke had controlled it. 

_By the grace of your training... Master... I just need your guidance._

_He’s using you for your power. You know it’s true._

_A cur’s weakness, properly manipulated..._

A blood-dimmed tide rose within him. The bridge fell silent.

_You are stronger than you know. How long did you resist?_

Years. I resisted for years. 

“Navigator, chart a course for the Nakadia system. We travel as soon as General Hux is back.” Pryde gave the order.

“Yes General.”

***

Ship’s logs revealed that a skeleton-crew on board a Resurgent-class Star-Destroyer was closer to six thousand people: staff, crew and troops alike. Logs also revealed that the _Colossus_ had had to deal with its own internal purge, and that the command was now firmly in lieutenant-colonel - now self-promoted general - Menkin’s grip. 

The Scavenger had come across a few corpses at the very edges of the internal struggle, men who had obviously dragged themselves, or been dragged, some distance before finally dying. The smell of death gripped her throat, and in a few places nearer vents, she had seen tiny scavengers feeding on corpses. The ship would be crawling with them. 

The signs of battle were still everywhere, scorch marks and blasted doors, and occasional pools of dried blood that hadn’t been cleaned up yet. But as she got closer to the ship’s heart, things were in better shape; repairs had been made or at least marked and cordoned-off and no bodies were left. 

Still. One-tenth the crew meant she could move around the main corridors with relative ease, only occasionally sensing some other soul nearby. 

She placed the remaining two trackers - two being outside on the hull - in strategic places near the outside, but far apart - so that should one’s signal be detected, the other might remain hidden.

Her initial task accomplished, she marked her datapad’s plan with the dead zones she found, where the mutineers had established their quarters, added logs and information like weapons and food inventory. 

This time, she truly could sabotage to her fill. With glee. 

Until she found the ship’s captive. 

**

Captain Cardinal arrived on the Dominatrix and was immediately invited to participate in the imminent parade, but Archex declined, citing urgent business, the nature of which he left vague. 

He had shared his intentions to extract his guard member with the remaining four Ren, and they had unenthusiastically agreed. It wasn’t clear to them what the Master of the Knights of Ren wanted anymore, and life had become very boring of late. Only the past couple days had seemed interesting, seeing as their Master was obviously itching for some action. 

None of them had even thought to challenge him during sparring sessions, the wild look in his eyes telling them winning the title would certainly cost an arm. And probably a leg too. It had been prudent of them, but Kylo had marched out fuming, even more frustrated than he had coming in for the sessions. 

Archex led them towards the parade grounds, hoping to keep to the sidelines and pick up his spy after the parade. One of the _Dominatrix’s_ top aides, who had recognized the Supreme Leader’s guards’ Captain, and the Knights, inquired as to the Supreme Leader’s whereabouts, and Archex had to make up an excuse for Kylo/Ben

*

A sea of white or mostly-white armor stood in ordered ranks while General Hux declaimed about the imminent return of Law and Order to the Order, reminding the troops and remaining senior staff alike that they were authorized outlets for the ‘inner fires of victory’ and that they could still ask for Rest and Recreation _off-ship_ when said fires burned high. They could also ask medical personnel for chemical aids to deal with their personal ‘fires’, as well as ask for permanent solutions if they found it too hard to control. There were a few groans at that, but all in all, the message appeared to be accepted. 

To pick up the mood, he reminded them of the hunt for the _Colossus_ , and the opportunity each of them would have to prove their virtuous loyalty to the First Order, who had fed, housed and trained them since youth. Like family. 

*

From where Finn was standing, near a corner of his column, he could feel the other troopers around him. First, his squad-mates: their feelings were so subdued as to be absent; not for the first time he wondered if they were under the influence of some drug he had been lucky to bypass administration. He remembered he had been told to report for ‘maintenance’ after this parade. He nearly shuddered, barely suppressed it. 

Behind him, the troopers were troubled; they could tell how frighteningly submissive the squad before them were. They could tell things were in motion within the Order, new ideals that were forming and clashing with the previous leader’s, and with the top brass. The decimation they had suffered also made them wonder at their chances of victory...whatever victory meant anyway. 

To many, it merely meant continued room and board. To others it meant power and its privileges: some luxury, some impunity. To others, the frightened, insecure ones: continued survival and _control_. The ones like Hux. 

***

At the Resistance Base, Leia was listening intently to Poe’s communication: Rey had successfully embedded four tracking devices on the rogue ship, and they were waiting for it to come out of hyperspace to find them. Unfortunately, Rey had remained on board the Star-Destroyer. 

Something in her top pilot’s voice, and Rose’s piping in every now and then, told her that Rey had been acting strangely on the last day, but it was nothing they could do anything about. Rey was an independent sort, had had to be to survive, and most of what she had learned about the great conflicts that had taken place all over the Galaxy, and over Jakku, was what she had managed to glean from the odd datacubes she had picked up and managed to work on her AT-AT’s comms console. 

And how much the great Star-destroyers ships' parts were worth in portions. 

That innocence had brought her right into the hands of Kylo Ren. And then in Supreme Leader Snoke’s throne room, where she had convinced one to betray the other. 

Leia smirked at that and wondered who had seduced who. 

Commander D’Acy and Lieutenant Connix beside her were attentive to their consoles, ready to relay the signal - should it pop up - to their ships in the systems most likely to have a connection to whatever underground dredges remained of the Dark Sun syndicate. 

That particular group had held a grudge against Han Solo for a long time. 

***

General Hux stepped down from the platform, having dismissed most of the squadrons, but retaining his experimental ‘enhanced programming’ one to inspect. 

The sergeant had the ranks opened, and Hux walked from trooper to trooper, commenting to his aide and the squad leader as he went along, looking generally pleased. 

_If he was killed by one of his “enhanced troopers” that would discredit the program_ , thought Finn while he smothered in his helmet, sweat beading on his brow. _And of course, kill the man responsible for the Hosnian system’s destruction._

When Hux passed to the second rank, the dusk-skinned man became certain the General would indeed pass before him, and his grip on his vibro-blade strengthened, his finger discreetly seeking the safety button. 

He toggled it. 

_‘Saving the ones we love.’_

_I’m sorry Rose_.

As the hated leader approached, Finn spotted Archex starting towards the group, now that much of the assembly had marched out. 

_He’s got the Knights with him_. He didn’t know whether to shudder with revulsion or relief. He caught himself just in time: Hux was only three troopers away. 

Two.

A drop of cold sweat ran down his nose, down one nostril. 

General Hux stepped to the trooper beside him. 

Archex picked up the pace. Something about the way Finn’s finger was placed over the safety, the way the trooper’s body suddenly tensed told him the man had made up his mind. 

Then something amazing happened. 

The drop of sweat trembled on the edge, not pursuing its way down to his lip. He took a breath to ready himself and

Hux nearly jumped out of his skin: had that trooper just _sneezed_ on him ?

A full-bodied, resounding, very _wet_ sneeze ?

While the General and sergeant RP-5565 gaped open-mouthed at him, Finn made his move, only to have Archex quickly reach out and grasp the weapon out of his hand.

“Careful trooper! Good thing I caught that.” He turned to General Hux. “General.”

“Cardinal! Glad you made it. The Supreme Leader didn't come?” 

“He’s been restless, sir. A parade could have ended badly. You know how he gets.” 

“Ah yes. Indeed. We’ve found him something to do, in fact. Sergeant, the inspection is over. Most of your men are very impressive, but for one exception.” They all looked at FN-8721 who was half-drowned in a puddle of shame and snot. 

The spiritless Sergeant turned to his spiritless squad: “Squad, atten- _tion_!” and marched them out to the exit, where he was confronted with more Knights of Ren than he had ever wanted to see. They took FN-8721 “off his hands”, to his vague relief: the man was terribly below standard anyway.

Archex accompanied General Hux back to his shuttle, while _Fn_ was marched to board the Night Buzzard.

He took off his helm to clean his face and the inside of his helm which was a sticky mess. He'd failed. The Knights took theirs off in turn, revealing the face of young and older men, more or less scarred by their own trials. He listened to their banter; they were like wolves, driven by their violent pulsions, now bored. One of them complained of getting fat. Another complained of the last training they’d had with Kylo Ren, who’d pushed him into a corner even though he hadn’t challenged him. The eldest wondered why Kylo wasn’t actively replacing their two missing members. “We’ve been seven for generations. He’s not respecting tradition.”

Finn wondered how long before the age-old “tradition” of the Knights of Ren disappeared back into the Darkness it had crawled from.

***

Rey found the surviving slaves by using the Force. Feelings of anguish and pain had pooled near the bottom of the center of the Destroyer, and that’s where she found them. They had been rounded up and were now kept in a series of heavily guarded rooms. She had climbed and wiggled her way over the fresher by means of a ventilation shaft that was blocked off by metal bars but would permit her to communicate with the prisoners. When she managed to speak her name to the youth she approached, he immediately ran out to find someone she could plan with. 

“Rey Kylo? Yes, we heard about you from Toolu Menkin. Toolu died though.” 

The girl was naked. They were all naked, and most showed bruises and marks of abuse. No longer recognizing the First Order’s "Moral Code of Discipline", the mutineers had decided to pool their resources and now just dipped into that pool whenever they felt like it. And they dipped often. 

This girl's name was Neda Kekety. She was one of the rare non-humans on board, a Cathar. Flat-nosed and stripe-patterned, her genitals, tail-tip and upper breasts had been shaved, while her mane had been left to grow luxuriously long. Her teeth and her claws had been filed down. She was one of the more anxious slaves in the pool; everyone wanted to try an “exotic” girl like her. She had been quite a prize to the one who had caught her, keeping her in relative luxury, but now…

Rey and her discussed a primitive plan: Rey had found a few dead zones near airlocks; when the imminent attack on the colossus started, they would be evacuated to one, where a transport could pick them up. They decided on the two most promising locations, Rey slipping the datapad through the vent, Neda showing the plans to the older foundlings who knew their way around a ship. Ten had survived the purges and transport to this ship. 

All in all there were forty on board; while they spoke, one boy rushed in with news. 

He looked… disgusting was the only word that could be used, and Neda helped clean him up while he told them what he’d overheard in the last hour. 

The _Colossus_ could be repurposed as a giant “Luxury Cruise ship”, armored and armed: they would transport “Luxury Goods” for some generous crime syndicate. 

By the time Rey left them to find a safe place of her own, she was seething - but she wasn’t sure what to do. Should she communicate with Ben now, or wait until she received a comms message from the Resistance first?

In any case, they were still in hyperspace. She had to wait. She could start sabotaging right away, though.

* 

Ben Solo tried for hours to shore up against the heavy tide of Darkness reaching for him. He tried to reach Rey after an exhausting training, hoping she could finish him off and he would get some sleep. But the silence at the end of the Bond implied she was probably in hyperspace. He tried to draw, but every drawing became a mess of body parts and broken charcoals and sanguine. 

Poetry was no better:

> _The violence within_
> 
> _I would put it inside you_
> 
> _Make you grow stronger._

The comms rang: 

“Supreme Leader, we are in orbit around Nakadia’s mining-colony moon.”


	23. The Split

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Bonn, this is Archex, come in.”
> 
> “Bonn here.” There was clear relief in the sergeant’s voice. “Sir, the Supreme Leader is… falling,” he whispered urgently. 
> 
> “It’s a setup, Bonn, he’s meant to fail.”
> 
> “Sir, what do I do?”

While they walked, Hux was even more inquisitive than usual, asking Archex about the Resistance, Archex lying as well as he could, saying the base was in the process of moving as he was leaving. Then he asked to take his leave so he could make it back to the _Steadfast._

“The _Steadfast_ should be in orbit around Nakadia by now, waiting. We are on our way there, but you can take a corvette, if you think you can get there faster,” Hux told him as he dismissed him. 

Just as he was walking away, he heard a comms officer inside the shuttle call to the General: “Sir, incoming call from Ziton Moj. They’re ready to negotiate.”

 _Ziton Moj,_ Cardinal thought to himself, _I know that name_ . _Nakadia. What is Armitage Hux negotiating ?_ he wondered. 

Aboard the corvette back to the First Order fleet’s flagship, Archex began his research. 

*

Finn was donning the red armor in his cabin before rejoining his squad-mates. Captain Cardinal had stopped him from killing Hux, and he was beginning to accept it as fate. His ride on board the Night Buzzard had left a strange impression with him. 

The remaining Knights of Ren were confused as to their Master’s mood.

He rejoined the Elite Guard and Sergeant Bonn was uncomfortable. They were getting ready to put down a rebellion on some mining-colony moon. The Supreme Leader had locked himself in his chambers for the better part of the day shift. When they came out of hyperspace, he finally appeared, gathering his guard on his way to the _Night Buzzard_ , where his Knights awaited him. 

The Knights were excited, while Bonn’s squad was quiet. Maybe things would resolve quickly with the compound director, and this was just a show of force. Ren sat in the cockpit, gloomy, the pilot stiff and mechanical beside him. Dread permeated the whole ship. 

***

Rey reversed the flow of water-pumps backwards in the pipes, then made it to one of the weapons bay while attention was diverted. She disabled as many canons as she could, then slipped away, running to disable shield generators as well. 

When they came out of the jump, she tapped into one of the consoles to find their location, ready to inform Ben as soon as she heard from the Resistance. 

**

“There! Right near Nakadia, we found Rey!” exclaimed Rose into the radio mic where it was hooked to her flight-suit. “And the _Colossus_ , of course,” she added as an afterthought. “We’re going there now. Black Bird out.”

Nakadia. After Ord Mantell, a picture was forming. “Leia, didn’t Han Solo make some trouble on Nakadia?” Luke asked his twin. 

“He did. The trouble Han caused changed some votes in the Senate. That precipitated the Battle of Jakku.”

“Jakku again. What did he do?” 

“He rescued some hostages held by the Black Sun Syndicate.”

“You think they’re still pissed about that? Enough to make a deal with the First Order?”

“If they’re aiding the _Colossus…_ They certainly have good leverage.”

“I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”

***

The Supreme Leader marched into the compound, Force-pushing guards and workers alike into fences and trees, his escort barely keeping up with him. The director walked out of the main office, together with an older man: the worker responsible for the strike. 

They looked at the angry warlord, surprised out of their negotiations. 

“Supreme Leader-”

“Director Sanon, is this the rebellious strike-leader giving you trouble?”

“Henrid? Well he’s always been a bit of a -”

Kylo Ren lifted the greying man off his feet in a Force-choke.

**

“Mitaka, where is B- where is our Supreme Leader?” Archex asked, running onto the Bridge.

Archex’s research while on his way back had yielded some history on the Black Sun syndicate, a criminal organization that had apparently survived the last thirty years by keeping a low profile, waiting for an opportunity. That opportunity had presented itself in the form of a rogue star-destroyer. 

“Dismissed, Mitaka, I have this.” General Pryde turned his dead eyes to the red-clad Captain. “Hopefully crushing ongoing negotiations with a rebellious worker faction on this moon,” he explained, “asserting our dominance over this cluster of systems, and reminding them who - or should I say _what_ \- the Supreme Leader _is_.”

“What’s that?” Archex asked, breathless. 

“The Heir to Darth Vader, apprentice to Snoke - now the Master.” 

Archex was stunned.

“What’s the matter, Captain Cardinal? Do you doubt the Supreme Leader’s power? Do you suspect some weakness… that might make him _unfit_ for the position?”

“Unfit,” repeated Archex blankly, before straightening himself and adding: “Of course not. I should be down there with him. By your leave, General?”

“Yes, Captain, you may join the lot of them. Dismissed.”

The rising Darkness that Archex had felt over the last days had finally taken over Ben Solo. There would be a massacre on Nakadia, cancelling all the efforts at redirecting the First Order over the past month. Either Kylo Ren would emerge again, or…

Or he would be pushed out of power. Maybe killed. Or traded to the Black Sun in exchange for something. The _Colossus_. 

Archex nearly ran off the Bridge. He found a small office and locked himself in, then punched into a comms console.

“Bonn, this is Archex, come in.”

“Bonn here.” There was clear relief in the sergeant’s voice. “Sir, the Supreme Leader is… falling,” he whispered urgently. 

“It’s a setup, Bonn, he’s meant to fail.”

“Sir, what do I do?”

**

The  _ Colossus  _ appeared in the sky above them. Kylo looked up.  _ She  _ was there. His Light-half. He let the worker fall on his knees.

_*Ben,*_ he heard in his mind, _*the Colossus has come out over-*_

_*Over Nakadia. I’m on one of the moons now.*_

_*You are? That’s... convenient. The Resistance is on its way.*_

Smaller ships appeared near the rogue star-destroyer. Small ships that were neither First Order nor Resistance. A logo was almost visible on their underbelly, nudging a memory in Ben’s mind. A crime syndicate. 

He looked around him, Rage suddenly interrupted. He looked at the Director who was leaning towards the wheezing man fallen on the ground beside him wanting to help him, but terrified of doing so. 

“Director, what was the state of affairs before I came here?” 

“We were just about to negotiate Union rights and responsibilities, things were going well. “I don’t understand why-”

“Right.” Ben had been tricked into sabotaging a peaceful process. “Give this man,” he pointed to the worker just starting to recover from near-asphyxiation, “whatever he wants, and if anyone asks, lie about it and say you won on every point. You can even say I killed him.”

The Master of the Knights of Ren then turned around and faced his men, Red and Black: “Men, take me on board that ship,” he ordered, pointing to the _Colossus_.

**

“Captain, the Supreme Leader appears to have come to his senses. We’re making for the _Colossus_.”

“Bonn, tell him it was a setup, a _coup monté_.” Archex spoke quickly into the comm, “And Bonn, be careful now. Everything’s coming to a head.” 

“Understood, Sir. It was an honor serving with you. Out.”

Archex stood before the console. If Ben Solo was boarding the rogue ship, it meant he was planning on commandeering it himself. 

It meant he would not return to the _Steadfast_ . Maybe not even to the First Order. Captain Cardinal contacted the _Incinerator_ before running for the med-bay. 

**

Rey had not expected to feel her Dyad-half so close when she managed to contact him. Had the Resistance contacted him that fast? It was impossible. What was the fleet already doing in the system?

The First Order would want their ship back, they would negotiate to have it back. With who? She had to get closer to the command bridge to find out. 

Her commlink beeped: “Rey we’re on our way to your sector. Did you contact Ben Solo ?”

She thought of their brief Bond: vileness had seeped through, feeding parts of her that were capable of gruesome acts. Kylo Ren was there, making his way back to her.

“He’s on his way to this ship. The First Order was already here.” She had a flash, “They already knew where the Colossus was going!”

“Dammit! Rey, there could be a major battle happening, you’ve got to get yourself to safety!”

“I won’t leave the girls I found here. They’re planning on making this ship some kind of pleasure boat… or mobile brothel or something.” She cut the communication before they gave her orders she would not follow.

***

“I don’t care, Chewie, I’m coming with you!” Luke ran up the Millennium Falcon’s ramp. They’d gotten some reports from Finn over the past two weeks, most good, even encouraging, but the last one had been worrisome. Without Rey, Ben Solo had taken a turn for the worse. 

The First Order had also developed a training program that went further into destroying their trooper’s humanity than had been thought possible. Ben Solo hadn’t been aware of it, meaning it could be the work of his senior staff. Brandol Hux’s son, most probably. He couldn’t have gladly surrendered his army to Ben Solo, who’d been a pariah even under Snoke’s direct supervision. A pet project of sorts. 

The Wookie growled. “I don’t know yet, Chewie. I’ll figure something… at the least we can get those refugees Rey mentioned off ship before...” 

Before everything went to shit. 

**

“Sir, the _Night Buzzard_ ’s boarded the _Colossus_ ,” announced the lieutenant.

“Good, keep listening to comms: we want to know exactly how things work out.”

“Do we send in troops to suppor-”

Hux cut her off before he had to address that embarrassing question. “Did you get a report on whether or not he put down the rebellion on the mining moon, yet?”

The Generals - one old, one young - looked intently at the comms officer. 

“The… rebellion, Sir? But it was just a disagree-”

“Yes, the _rebellion,_ Lieutenant, did the Supreme Leader crush it into submission, or not?” 

The lieutenant spoke into her mic, listened intently at the feedback from the colony.

“The two sides came to an agreement, Sir. The director insisted they suppressed the worker faction’s demands.” 

“Did they agree, or did they suppress the worker faction, ensign? It can’t be both” Hux demanded.

There was a tense moment's wait after the junior officer relayed the question. 

“Sir, the director said there are wounded, and the worker leader was killed.”

“Ah! Good then.” Pryde turned to Hux, “The Supreme Leader is assuming his role again, now that that wench has left him. Of course our allies won’t like his direct interference in their business.”

“They most certainly won’t. But maybe he can still bring the _Colossus_ back to us?”

“That would make our other allies cross.”

“Indeed it would. I don’t see how he can possibly come out on top of all these blunders,” General Armitage Hux concluded.

**

The _Night Buzzard_ boarded the rogue star-destroyer easily, finding part of its armament and shielding disabled. The smuggler ships surrounding them had buzzed around them, but none had the fire-power to penetrate their shields, and after a couple were shot down, they fell back, no doubt waiting for better orders from their amateur tactician. 

Kylo Ren finally remembered their insignia: The Black Sun. He’d heard about them: they’d helped the old Empire gain some territory, but then an important plan of theirs had been foiled. 

In an operation led by Han Solo. 

Many things had been negotiated behind his back. 

Once he got his men - they were a dozen now, counting him - out of the hangard bay and into some maintenance access corridor, he made them quiet and contacted Rey. It was easier when they were so near.

_*Rey, I’m on board the ship; what can you tell me?*_

* _Ben… General Menkin made some deal with a crime syndicate to turn this ship into some kind of mobile brothel, but I think the deal was made with the First Order too. In exchange for… *_

* _In exchange for my head, and the right to continue their slaving operations_ ,* Ben finished for her. 

_Treason._ The thought exploded inside him, a veritable conflagration of Dark Energy. 

_*Where are you?*_

_*Near the command post, maybe I can neutralize…*_

_*That’s not your job.*_

There was a small pause. 

_*It’s not. I found some more kids. If you have a ship I can evacuate them.*_

_*How many?*_ The Buzzard was a repurposed, jacked-up transport ship, but it was only for the Knights of Ren; it wasn’t spacious. 

_*Forty.*_

_*You’ll need to make at least two trips.*_

_*The Falcon is certain to show up. They can take whatever won’t fit.*_

_The Falcon._

_*Right. I’m sending you Finn and a few more.*_

They let the Bond wink out and Kylo Ren turned to his escort:

“All right, Knights, Bonn: here’s the plan...”

**

Rey and Finn met up halfway between the boarding site and the quarters where the slaves were kept. Bonn and two others had been dispatched for the rescue, making them a team of five to take on at least double that number of guards. 

After initial introductions, they exchanged a few words on their way there through maintenance corridors and accessways, Ray showing them a whole other side of the ships they had always marched in, never daring to explore their depths.

“Finn, what did you learn about the troops’ morale?”

“The First Order is split, with about a third of the troopers either favorably impressed with Kylo’s approach to slavery or just repulsed by Hux’s new program; just like you thought it would be. But this situation… I don’t know how any rebellion could organize itself fast enough to affect the current battle.”

“Where’s Archex?” she asked.

Bonn spoke up: “He was on board the _Steadfast_ when we spoke, warned us of the _coup._ ” He frowned, “He won’t be coming here; it’s entirely possible he decided to handle things from there. _Maker_ _!_ Hux has no idea what’s seething just under his feet.”

Rey thought of the good doctors and personnel that had helped her over a week of intense secret operations. 

Then she remembered Captain San'Luxida. 

“May the Force be with us, Sergeant. We are going to be in the middle of Hux’s mutiny.”

A moment, then Finn added:

“Rey, Ben Solo’s been…” word failed to convey the furor that had inhabited his commander over the past two days. How he had felt like Kylo Ren all over again. The _dread_. Bonn looked at Finn then away again; neither meeting her eye. 

“I’m aware of that, men.” Rey murmured _,_ “Just remember he’s with _me_. Now get ready: we’re here.” 

Over the past day Rey had managed to sneak some blasters into the vents of her wards’ living space, ready to be grasped when the moment was right. 

The moment was right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Many things could happen all at once and I had written it that way.  
> Now, I realized TOO MANY things were happening all at once.
> 
> So... this story just took a turn for the better. Bear with me.


	24. Loopback

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now would be the biggest test of trust between them. What would happen to her if she Force-Bonded with him now ?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a re-write of this chapter (though still unbetaed).  
> I basically tore out some parts and will plant them later. 
> 
> I realized halfway through my plan that I couldn't do it all at once: I can't have a double-mutiny. It's too much, too soon, and I need to give Finn more time to grow. I want the stormtrooper rebellion to come from the troops, for the troops, not for some freshly redeemed Ben Solo.

Blood was racing through his veins, pounding in his ears; he had been a good boy for far too many weeks now. He had his knights with him, his red-clad personal guard, and most of all, a very clear enemy to eliminate. 

Separating children from their families to force them to learn Jedi dogma may have been wrong... but forcing children into the kind of slavery he had witnessed in the past weeks was clearly evil. He was not being tricked nor compelled into his actions now, and his current prey had proven itself to be the predator he should always have fought. 

They were not weak old men with women and children, but battle-hardened military members and their little army… and some Black Sun criminals as well. 

It would be glorious. 

But they had to survive too. Rey had shared information - logistics logs mostly - through shared access to a console, and his team had mapped some maintenance tunnels that would lead them within three hundred meters of the secondary bridge. Once there, they would leave part of his team to commandeer most of the controls of the ships, disabling or enabling weapons systems and shields - depending on what actions the other ships in the vicinity took. Himself and the rest would make their way to the primary bridge, killing everyone in their way.

It would be _glorious_. 

*

They came out the discreet access door and Kylo Ren immediately and quietly choked the two troopers guarding the doors to the secondary bridge, then Trudgen set himself to the task of breaking in. They rushed in, killing nearly all officers on sight. Then once Trugden hacked into the console, using a terrified ensign's body to do so, he stayed behind with another two red-troopers and locked the doors with their own key-codes. 

***

Hux and Pryde awaited impatiently the outcome of Kylo Ren’s attempt at almost single-handedly commandeering a ship crewed by nearly six thousand obedient crew - and recalcitrant, _but repentant -_ officers. 

The reports coming in were vague at first: yes the _Buzzard_ had boarded, the skeleton crew unable to guard every single landing bay efficiently. And some of the shields were gone. And some of the guns were malfunctioning as well… and some other electrical networks - and water works, and communications systems as well.

It looked like sabotage. 

“The Jedi girl. She’s on board that ship,” General Pryde concluded. 

“The Resistance isn’t even in this system, how could she be there already?”

“That’s a lot of sabotage. Maybe she got in while the _Colossus_ was in orbit around Ord Martell?”

“If she’s on board, the Resistance will soon appear, and Kylo Ren is aware of our deal with the Black Sun. Damn them for showing up so soon.

“Lieutenant,” Hux told the young woman in the comms pit near him, “Tell Major Menkin to either double the guard on the… the _comfort-girls,”_ his mouth twisted in a rictus of disgust: he was very much above such pedestrian activities, “or be ready to kill them: there’s a very motivated Jedi warrior on her way to “rescue” them.” Hux turned to the older general, “that should at least give her pause. She will be too busy saving lives to help Ren take them.”

A malaise suffused through the bridge, perceptible only by the more sensitive people. 

“Sirs, the secondary bridge has been successfully commandeered,” peeped an ensign.

“Damn. I’d hate to have to blow her up, she’s a fine ship. Officers, I want all eyes and ears to be especially attuned to pick up any signs of the _Colossus_ getting ready to fire on _us_. Weapons - ready our canons and target that ship, just in case.”

***

Resistance ships suddenly appeared just outside the Nakadia system. Long range sensors sent out their tendrils, hoping to sniff out a maximum of information before being discovered and having to rush into the fray. 

“Ok, what do we got?” Poe sat in the ARC-170 starfighter _Black Bird_ , an eye on his console, an ear tuned to information coming from other Resistance ships.

“We got a lot going on here, is what we got.” Commander D’Arcy answered. Leia, Connix and D’Arcy were in a medium-sized armored transport, the mobile headquarters of the Resistance, analysing as much information in as efficient a way as they could. 

“Ok, the Black Sun _is_ here, just as we guessed, they’re guarding the _Colossus_ . Most of what’s left of the First Order fleet is here as well. The _Steadfast_ is facing the rogue ship, weapons warming up. Looks like they're waiting for some signal. We know Rey is onboard the _Colossus_ , with Ren joining her. We know there is a crew of six thousand manning that ship,” D’Arcy concluded. 

“Wait, is Kylo Ben planning on commandeering that ship practically by himself? That’s crazy!” Poe suddenly exhaled. 

“Don’t tell me about crazy, and _you_ , don’t even think of telling me the odds,” Leia told the gold-lacquered droid beside her, who huffed and apologized profusely. “If we can’t get through to Rey the only thing I can see us doing is to take out the Black Sun once and for all, and then help neutralize the _Colossus_. It’s as close to respecting our agreement with the Supreme Leader,” she bit the title out, “as we can improvise with so little information.” 

“General Organa, if we’re wrong and the First Order turns against us, we’re done for. We need updated information on the situation.”

Both Poe and Leias were heard sighing loudly over the comms. “Agreed,” said Poe. 

“Agreed,” relented Leia, “try to reach Rey again. Luke!” she called loudly, “can you reach her, or Finn?”

 _Can I reach my son?_ She thought.

**

The fire-fight was lasting much too long. Even with a few of the kids firing on their guards from the back, the reinforcements had been unexpected and the passage they were hoping to open up was cluttering with dead bodies. When they saw a unit of light artillery arrive at the end of the corridor, Rey realised that the thugs had decided to murder all the slaves rather than surrender them. The callousness momentarily staggered her. 

Rey and Finn and their teammates already were spattered with blood and brains, and the imminence of death was fueling their anger _and_ their fear, but only one of those emotions would be useful to see this fight to the end. 

Simultaneously, Kylo Ren was waging a small war of his own less than a kilometer away, completely free of any worry save the time ticking by - each minute adding more troopers between him and his goal to take over the main bridge. 

He was exulting in the bloodshed. 

Rey could feel him, could feel all the Darkness in him, crimson blood burning through him like molten rivers of dark red lava, fueling his crazy light sword that seemed to suck the blood directly from the heart of his enemies. It was terrifying. 

It was a source of power. 

It was the Force. She let the floodgates blow open. 

Finn's head whipped back to Rey. He felt the exact moment she seized the Darkness. 

She stood up unexpectedly, bunched her shoulders and started marching down the hall toward the small cannon the men on the other end were assembling as fast as they could. 

For a long second, it seemed as if time stood still. 

Then the neon lights above her blacked out and emergency lighting bathed her in a strobe of fire-red as she resumed her relentless march forward, easily deflecting then reflecting the blaster bolts shot at her. 

She advanced, a wild wail forming in her throat. 

One of the troopers at the end broke and ran. The others screamed at each other as they doubled the speed of assembly. Finally, a round was chambered

and shot,

and never made it further than a meter past the mouth of the canon. 

It stopped in mid-air. 

Finn watched a red-faced Rey straining to flip the thing over. 

He stood

and reached in turn for his own fury. 

The thing flipped in an instant. 

All those that hadn’t sense enough to realise what was happening and throw themselves out of the way died.

The conflagration stunned her little team. 

*

It stunned Kylo on the other end of the Bond as well.

In a loopback of Force-Bonding, his power gained an order of magnitude - to the point his Knights all looked at him, unsure he hadn’t turned against them. With his Crimson Guard behind him, he marched ahead, blowing troopers aside like leaves in a gale, ripping locked doors open before him. 

*

Rey’s team eventually reached the hangard bay where the _Night Buzzard_ was waiting, a nervous detachment of First Order Storm-troopers guarding the ship. After Finn and her blew half of them out the hangar shield into outer space, the others surrendered or ran away. 

Bonn and his two men loaded half the slaves aboard, packed tightly together, and the ship jumped out of sight nearly from the threshold, the red-guard sergeant thanking his foresight he had asked how the ship flew while they had worked with the Knights of Ren. 

Rey was left with Finn and two more close personal guards. 

They made for an access hatch nearby, and she commed the Resistance. 

**

“It’s her _it’s her!_ ” they all jumped on the mic at the same time. Leia grabbed it out of Connix’s hands, “Everybody shut up! Rey, where are you? What’s going on?”

“I’m still on board ship, we just packed the _Night Buzzard_ with kids and they're on their way out to Tatooine to drop them off. I need another ship for the rest of them, we’re in the port hangar.” 

“Rey… where’s my son?” Leia blurted, and the buzz of activity immediately hushed. 

“He’s making his way to the main bridge. It’s a massacre, and as soon as the rest of the kids are transferred, I'm going to join him,” she stated, then asked: “What is the First Order doing? They haven’t sent any troops, and they’re not firing on us.”

“They're waiting to see how things play out. We’re here waiting too. If we attack the _Colossus_ without the go ahead, the First Order could see it as a breach of the cease-fire. If we attack the Black Sun, they could turn the _Colossus_ against us, and we’re almost in the same position.”

“Contact Archex, he’s still on board the _Steadfast_ , maybe he knows which way the wind is blowing? Wait, _we_ have that link, I’ll get Finn to call him.”

“We’ll direct the _Falcon_ to the port hangar.” 

“Roger that.” Leia commed Luke and the rest of the flight commanders to relay what little info they had, while Finn called Captain Cardinal.

“Finn, Hux and Pryde have effectively decided to abandon their Supreme Leader,” Archex spoke quickly into the mic, “If Kylo succeeds in commandeering the _Colossus_ , they will fire on it. I’m making my way over to the _Incinerator_ , to join Captain San’Luxida.” 

Finn nearly fell on his ass as the news struck him down. It really _was_ happening: _Mutiny in the First Order!_

Rey crouched beside him, nodding intently. “I have to let him know. I disabled a lot of systems in two days, I didn’t expect him to… I didn’t expect them to forsake their own Supreme Leader!” She handed the Resistance Comm device to Finn: “Here tell them while I tell Ben.”

Rey reached for the burning blackness she was connected to.

_*Ben, if you take over the ship, the Steadfast will attack it!*_

Kylo Ren paused for a moment, signalling his men to take cover. The ship was in no condition to survive an attack, nor win one. 

_*What’s your situation?*_ he asked, cold fire licking at her over the Bond.

She debriefed him in short sentences: the Resistance’s conundrum, the Black Sun, the troops’ split loyalty. The _Falcon_ on its way to pick up the rest of the slaves.

 _*I’m still taking over this ship,*_ he resolved. It could sustain an attack long enough to escape, and the hyperdrive was still functioning. The idea of running away irked him, but he had Rey on board with him, and he very much wanted to live. 

Just then the _Falcon_ landed in the hangar, accompanied by a lone Black Sun fighter, incensed by the sight of their legendary enemy’s ship. Its cannon’s bolts foiled by the _Falcon’s_ superior shielding, it was not so lucky in sustaining Solo’s freighter’s riposte. 

Rey broke off with Ren, to signal to Finn to load the girls on board - hugging goodbyes to those who had first trusted her - while Luke kept up a barrage fire to cover their asses. 

Finn came back down the ramp. 

“Finn! What are you doing? Get out of here!” she yelled at him.

“I’m helping you. And I made a promise,” he added for good measure. 

“Finn. You’re a brother, but I need you to go,” - _so I can let loose the Fires of Hell_ \- she thought to herself. “But you can come back with some troops to help us. Is that good?”

Something in the intense look she gave him made him shudder, and he understood he could not protect her; he could not protect either of the Dyad. But he could play a bigger part. He ran back up the _Falcon’s_ ramp. 

“We’ll come back for you!” he yelled as he raised the gangplank. Then the Falcon was gone again.

**

“Sir, our “allies” just informed us that the Falcon has left the Colossus and are heading for the system’s limit, the same direction the Night Buzzard took.” The comms officer had trouble keeping the disgust out of her voice.

General Hux looked at General Pryde. “The _Girl_ saved the refugees after all. She’ll be joining up with Ren now.” 

“Yes,” the stick-dry older man replied, “and with the Knights of Ren. That will considerably improve their chances. ”

“And his personal Guard. It seems all the eggs are in one basket.” 

“Should we send in troops to support her- I mean the _Supreme Leader_ now, Sir?”

“We can ready them. There is still a chance-” Pryde chose his words carefully, “that he can turn things around and bring the ship back under our control.”

“But there are still four thousand rogue combat troops on that ship, Sir!”

“Is there? I thought there were a lot more.”

“Sir, the Sup-” Commander Manning suddenly felt blood rush to her face and chest. 

“Commander, I find your lack of faith in our Supreme Leader disturbing. Perhaps someone else should man the comms console.” Pryde looked around them at the other officers. “Someone who can handle the pressure? You are dismissed.”

The young woman rose on shaky legs, head bent down in humiliation. As she walked to exit the Bridge, Pryde added: “Dismissed to your personal quarters, of course. To reflect on your conduct unbecoming an Officer of the First Order.”

*

General Armitage Hux was a man of principle… for the most part. He had accepted some compromises in his life, and most often such temporary arrangements had benefited his goals. He had shown flexibility in the face of near insurmountable odds, and in time, once the obstacle, be it his own father or some tactical defeat, had fallen away, he had flexed right back to his convictions. He had learned to endure rather than cower. Even Snoke had appreciated his resilience. 

The First Order had had clear goals under Snoke. Under Ren the... Usurper, things were less certain. Less Ordered. 

“Magic-users” like Snoke and Snoke’s apprentice had no appreciation for the wonders of technology, which any man could aspire to master given the right ressources. Force-sensitivity had already proven to be self-defeating when one looked at the history of the Jedi and the Sith alike. Untrained, if would become an unused ability, maybe even die out like the recessive trait it was. 

Now with all the Force users in one boat - so to speak - and the possibility of the _Last_ Jedi Luke Skywalker coming to their aid with the Resistance… the next battle could simplify things immensely. 

It had not taken much to convince Enrich Pryde and a few others that the First Order needed a better tempered ruler. They had all started or joined this war to win it, to rule the Galaxy with an iron grip; not coddle it like the Republic had. 

Some cultures, some _species_ were simply not strong enough to serve the Greater Good of the Galaxy. They should not be a burden to those who could. The First Order would not indulge them. 

And it would not indulge a besotted Kylo Ren. 

***

“Chewie, I have to get back on that ship with some troops!” Finn insisted.

The dusk-skinned soldier was torn in his loyalties: help Rey, help Ren, help the Resistance, help organise the stormtrooper rebellion that was forming in the fleet. He wasn’t even sure which _ship_ he meant. He was on board the _Falcon_ , Luke Skywalker co-piloting with Chewie, the Master’s eyes wide while he tried to take in everything Finn was telling him and the Resistance through the commlink. They had taken the refugees to Tatooine to join the first ones, and the _Falcon_ and the _Night Buzzard_ sat only a few meters apart, neither crew quite believing the strangely calm proximity they were in.

“<Rey asked you to come back with troops,>” the shaggy veteran said, “<Go with the _Buzzard_ to get them and then fly back to the ship.>”

“He’s right. The _Buzzard-_ ” Luke spat the words: that ship and its crew had caused incalculable damage to the few Jedi and Jedi-supporters left after the Empire had decimated them. “The _Buzzard_ can still get you on the _Steadfast_.”

There was a pause. Here was a clear role for the Force-sensitive Stormtrooper. On the First Order’s new flagship. Where Hux was. 

Everyone in the battered, dirty cockpit of the _Millenium Falcon_ could feel it. 

Finn took his Red helmet and his blaster and walked down the gangplank to the _Night Buzzard_ . Sergeant Bonn and him took off soon after, heading for the Fleet. The _Falcon_ followed, but it was rejoining the Resistance. 

“As soon as the Fleet moves against the _Colossus_ , we can attack the Black Sun ships. They fired on the _Falcon_ , but didn’t follow through,” D’Arcy stated. “We could still technically start hostilities with them. The First Order is in a grey area here, ethically. It wants its ship back, so it’s _negotiating_ . If the _Colossus_ attacks the Fleet… we can attack the Black Sun too.”

“If we know who’s commanding it.” Leia stated. 

“Or we could just defend ourselves against them if they _happen_ to attack us.” Poe set forth. From the _Black Bird_ , the static grit of the radio did not hide his impatience to get into the game. “You know, we could just make our presence known to them… loiter behind the _Colossus_.”

“General Organa… we should communicate with the head of the First Order now.” D’Arcy was the voice of reason. “We did our part. We tracked and found their rogue ship for them. They’ll have to at least acknowledge that.”

Leia straightened her back with effort. _Who_ **is** _the head of the First Order now?_

“You’re right. I was hoping to avoid contacting them. But we have to be clear on their intentions, whether they lie to us or not. Open a channel to their flagship.” Her diplomatic skills would be needed to divine the intentions of the greatest military fleet in the known galaxy… and estimate their chances of survival. 

**

They could feel each other through tons of Plasticrete and Ferroceramic. Followed by the surviving Crimson guard, Rey ran down corridors, taking shortcuts by ways of access tunnels when she saw them, or when the pair came across a squad of defenders too numerous to blast through. She chose to rise a deck every chance they got: it would be impossible to find a free turbolift the nearer the command center they got. 

* _Ren,_ * she called to him, immediately gaining his attention. The Beast on the other end of the Bond was as far from Ben Solo as she had ever sensed from him: raw, untamed fury. 

* _Rey._ * Wordlessly he agreed to pause for her to catch up with him on the way to the main command Bridge.

When she finally caught up with him he was a terrible sight. He was monstrous. He and his guard were all more or less covered in blood and offal, but his maskless head showed him discheved and glassy-eyed as well. He had transformed into a creature she barely recognised at all, if not for the unmistakable attraction she felt to her Dyad-half, now like a vortex of violence, sucking at her own bright brilliance of purpose. She had borrowed some of his Darkness to fuel some of her attacks before, but now... 

Now would be the biggest test of trust between them. What would happen to her if she Force-Bonded with him now ?

She reached her hand to him and he startled, then reached his own blood-covered hand to take it and the turmoil that entered her took every bit of her will - of her will to _live_ \- to compensate and not be sucked into his Rage. 

The Bond opened, he let go of her hand. They resumed their advance forward. 

In the narrow corridors, it was impossible to overwhelm them; piles of defender troopers bodies barely slowed them down. Droids were crushed or redirected, light mortar was reflected or disabled at the source. Mines were sensed and set off from a distance. Locked doors warped and torn off their hinges. The surviving Ren and Red guard covered their backs and bit their lips at the carnage, the Knights exulting with their leader, the Red grim-faced and straining to keep their composure. Whenever some captain thought to attack the team from behind, they were met with swift action. 

At some point, some particularly imaginative captain thought setting up mortars before and _behind_ the Dyad would catch them in the middle, their divided attention unable to deflect two missibles racing towards them. 

It didn’t work, and _two_ mortar crews were decimated. 

The Dyad and their black-and-red team made it to the doors to the Bridge of the _Colossus_. 

***

Archex had gathered Dr. Indah Cylkarr and her close team in the shuttle he would be taking to escape to the Incinerator, where Captain San'Luxida would greet him. He had a troop captain and three other sergeants with him.

“I’m not about to let Hux’s programming turn me or my men into one of those drones,” said one of the men. 

“That depends on us. But we have to be organized first.” he reminded them. “That can be quick, or it can drag out for weeks,” warned Archex. “I never thought to live outside the First Order, but now I’m starting to believe I can. Who else wants to breathe fresh air and raise a family?”

They all lifted their hands. 

“When do we start?” asked the female sergeant.

He looked at them in turn: “Let Hux have his day of mutiny, that will make him overconfident and further divide the troops. Meanwhile, we can concentrate our efforts on ensuring the Supreme Lea-” he stopped himself. 

Then he continued: “Kylo Ren will need our help. We can ensure he has time to escape. Some of you can go over there and assist directly. Some of you can stay here and mess up targeting on the canons.”

They all picked their roles, then the little group disbanded, and Archex took off for the _Incinerator_. 

***

While the carnage progressed on the _Colossus_ , Finn and Bonn had landed on the _Steadfast_ , telling the flight control bridge they had been sent to fetch reinforcements for the Supreme Leader. 

They were met with embarrassed refusals, and confused explanations.

The flight squads of TIE-fighters had been readied, but had been put on hold. Same with boarding troops. After checking with a superior, the two men were told they could take a dozen troops and go back to the _Colossus_ if they were so inclined. No more. 

Everyone was waiting. Waiting for some victory or defeat. Bonn contacted Archex. Finn contacted Rey. 

With both Finn and Bonn on the Flag ship, Archex felt it was time to say goodbye to most of his life with the only family he had ever known. Armitage Hux had betrayed his father, and now had betrayed his Supreme Leader. But most importantly, with the “advanced programming” the young general had devised and tested on his experimental squad of Elite Troopers, he had deceived him and all the young men and women they had recruited - or promised to use responsibly. 

What Archex had to do now, however, was also a betrayal: a betrayal of Kylo Ren. If a rebellion was successful, there would be no First Order left for the Supreme Leader to come back to. 

Or was it? Was he not really just setting a tortured young man free from a terrible machine?

“Bonn, you or Finn organize troops on the _Steadfast_ .” He decided, telling them of the ones he had… _conspired_ with, “the other can take that dozen troops and hope to rescue the Dyad… well assist, anyway - on the _Colossus.”_ He also told them how things were shaping up. “May the Force be us… we’ll need it.”

**

An unusual waltz was taking place in the space around the _Colossus_ : Resistance and Black Sun fighters circled each other menacingly, sometimes sending wildly missing volleys in each other’s direction, widely avoided. It was a dance full of threat. 

General Organa looked at the console, then at Commander D’Arcy to make sure she hadn’t hallucinated what she had just heard over the comms. D’Arcy shrugged then nodded. 

“Generals… you are dismissing us?” she had to ask to confirm beyond doubt.

“Yes, Madame Organa,” she raised an eyebrow at the lack of recognition of her titles, but let it pass. “you heard us right. You are no longer needed here. You did your job finding the rogue ship, you even rescued more slaves than you can deal with. Our Supreme Leader is passing judgement on the dissident crew as we speak. Expeditive - but swift - judgement. You know how implacable he can be.” 

_Aye_ , she knew.

“But the Black Sun-”

“The Black Sun are _our_ problem now, Organa, _not_ yours. It would be best if you didn’t linger around now. This is First Order business. You wouldn’t want to re-open hostilities, would you?”

 _My son and his lover are on board that ship, you traitor!_ she wanted to yell. Instead she told him:

“Of course, _Armitage_. One of our ships’ hyperdrive generator just burned out. We will fix it and be on our way.” Connix looked at her sharply, but Leia kept her expression neutral. 

A curt “Yes” was followed by uncomfortable pause before a dismissive “See that you do, Madame. Hux Out.”

When the First Order holo faded out, Leia clenched her jaw. 

“It’s confirmed: they’re saving their ship, and sacrificing their Supreme Leader. Our involvement will be considered a reprisal of the hostilities,” she spoke on the command channel. “I’ve managed to delay our departure from this system, but that’s it.”

“So now, we wait to see who wins the _Colossus_ ,” concluded Poe over the radio. 

***

Commander Chel Manning thought she would at least grab a sandwich on her way to her quarters, but she found the corridors to be especially busy with stormtroopers hurrying about, marching out of step or even out of formation. Waiting for a lift, she heard them whisper in small groups. 

“I hear they even eat in sync,” one trooper started. 

“They shower together. Like, every time,” a second added. 

“It’s like the Clone army, but this time it’s their minds too. Like they share only one mind.” a third shook his head. 

“You mean like, no private time? No private thoughts? Worse than now?” the first one asked.

“Yeah, like, you have to take some drug, or they take out part of your brain.” 

They all shuddered at that.

“And Hux wants everyone like this? Is that what that trouble with Supreme Leader Kylo Ren is about?”

For a few heartbeats there was silence.

“I thought what the Supreme Leader decided to do about those kids the Jedi girl found was a good choice.” 

“I thought so too. She’s good for him.”

Another heartbeat and the moment passed, too much to think of in the immediate.

The troopers started speculating on their parts in the upcoming battle, priming their courage when, taking a breath, Chel decided to pipe in: “The Supreme Leader is on the _Colossus_ with the Jedi girl and only his personal guard. Hux abandoned him, hoping they get overrun and killed.” 

She was sure of it now. 

They hushed, then looked her up and down. Chel had her shoulders hunched over, a defeated air about her.

One of them said: “That’s not right.”

***

Fire burned through him, and through her veins as well. The Dyad stood before the Bridge doors, still holding for now. “General” Menkin was not responding to their call to surrender, and they could hear panicked screaming from inside the room. They were asking for support from the First Order, of all things. 

It only further confirmed the treason that was clearly evident. They were hoping for Hux’s leadership over Ren’s.

The Ren guarded Rey against attack, while she put her mind to hacking the doors. Kylo could barely refrain from slicing through them with his Crimson Ren, but they would need them intact for the battle that was sure to follow. 

The last thing Old Menkin said as the access popped open was:

“They made it, Sir, they have the Bridge of the _Colossus_. May you all rot in Hell.” 


	25. Ignition

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Four people turned to look at Kylo Ren, while he wiped his hands one some body’s tunic.  
> “We attack the First Order flagship,” he declared coldly as he straightened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The second re-written chapter. Can't jumble everything together.  
> Stories continues anew next chapter.

General Pryde was not one to be easily impressed. 

Then Lieutenant-Colonel Menkin announced that a team of seven had successfully commandeered a _Star-Destroyer._ Now he was forced to admit that Force-wielders, even bad ones like the Knights of Ren - and that _couple_ \- were a manifestation of the Force he had grossly underestimated. 

“We have to blow that ship up,” he said, impressed but still pragmatic.

As surprised by that improbable victory as he was, Hux was still loath to waste a perfectly good ship. Troopers were cheap. Star-Destroyers? Not so much. With their mobile-industry ship the _Supremacy_ out of commission, building new ships was a nightmare of logistics and negotiations.

“We can disable her, for sure, the Scavenger has already weakened her in places, gnawing at shields and other systems... like the rodent she is,” he grit between clenched teeth. 

“We have to blow up that ship, Hux, _Kylo Ren is aware we betrayed him!_ ” 

A deathly silence fell on the Bridge. A lieutenant stood up, stiff with shock. He made to reach for the comms mic nearest him. 

His fingers never hit the switch. 

The twang of a blaster shot rang through the air, followed by a grunt and a thud. 

Pryde looked at Hux, eyebrows raised. 

“Anyone else feeling more loyal to _one Ren_ than to the First Order?” Armitage asked, raised blaster steady. The silence continued. 

“Good. Ensign, put a call through to Ziton Moj _,_ tell them they have one chance at taking that ship.” Hux looked out the viewport at the contentious ship only a few kilometers away. At least the rogue elements - disloyal lechers - had been swiftly dealt with. Whatever troopers still aboard would be easy to recuperate. 

***

With the doors shut tight, Rey reached for the comms console while Ren finished killing the last of the delinquent staff.

She called the secondary bridge, guarded by Trudgeon: “This is Rey. You know me, I’m your Master’s… um…” She looked over at her blood-spattered lover. 

“Yeah, I _know_ who you are,” answered a reluctant voice. “What do you want?”

“Kylo and I just took over the Main Bridge. Do you have a situation report for us?”

“You did? Damn!” A low whistle before a short pause and he continued: “I guess I can try to bring the systems _you_ sabotaged back on line… unless you physically cut wires?”

 _Some_. 

“Concentrate on the Bridge main shields, I re-directed the signals to the reclamation tanks.” 

“You did _what_? Alright, I’ll get that. Then what do we do?” 

Six people turned to look at Kylo Ren, while he wiped his hands one some body’s tunic. 

“We attack the First Order flagship,” he declared coldly as he straightened. 

**

The crimson Captain and the _Incinerator’s_ Captain stood on the main Bridge, waiting for a sign. 

“Hux has no idea how close we are to a mutiny.” The broken-nosed woman spoke in hushed tones: her crew was loyal, but these were currents of betrayal difficult to navigate. Like Archex, she had been recruited from a backwater planet the Republic had ignored. Unlike Archex, her path to power had been much more tortuous.

“You say you have communications with the… Dyad.” It was an unusual word - one infused with power. 

The Red guard’s comm device rang just as she asked. 

“Archex, we command the _Colossus_ and we’re preparing to attack,” the Jedi’s voice burst through the small device. “Are you ready?”

San’Luxida shook her head. Archex nodded and spoke into the mic: “Rey of Jakku… we are not. We can only delay some actions. Bonn is on his way to get you out of there.”

***

“Ben.” Kylo snapped his eyes to her, an angry rictus on his face. There was no way they could win against the First Order with just one lame ship. Their friends aboard that ship could not organize a rebellion that fast, and firing on them would not encourage them to support them. The Resistance were too few, too weak. 

“Ben,” she said again, her voice firm this time. “We have to get out of here.”

“What? No. NO! This is _my_ Fleet, _my_ command! I am their _Supreme Leader_.”

They were here again, fallen enemies all around them, faced with a decision that could divide them. Rey looked into his face, but this time she didn’t cry. 

“Ben! Let it go. You hate this… this power.” 

“You’re _with_ me now! We can do this, we can bring a new order to the galaxy!”

“ _Ben!_ The galaxy doesn’t need to be “ordered”. Come with me…”

Rey held out her blood-covered hand “Come with _me…_

 _please._ ”

**

“General, the Black Sun are boarding the _Colossus_ ,” Connix announced. 

“My son took it over then! Why aren’t the First Order firing?”

Commander D’Arcy’s sharp mind knew the answer: “They must be reluctant to shoot first: mutiny is especially abhorrent to them. Anathema. They must be hoping Kyl- sorry I mean Solo - starts it firsts.” 

_C’mon, son. We’ll help you._

**

Dressed in mix and match armor, dark, spiky concentric circles on a black and yellow armband their only identification, the Black Sun thugs quickly left the hangar to take the lifts to the main bridge. The prize, should they win it, was worth years of pay to any of them, and the appeal of serving - or “servicing” - the greatest military might in the galaxy was impossible to resist. Such an association would restore the syndicate's former glory.

Capturing and executing Han Solo’s son was the icing on the java cake. 

**

“Is that the _Night Buzzard..._ going back to the _Colossus_?” Pryde gestured to Hux to peer out in the direction the Knights’ transport was taking. 

“I’ll give him that, Kylo Ren’s men are loyal to him, though I don’t see how they can save him now. They’re grossly outnumbered.” 

“If he escapes…” 

“Enrich! Kylo Ren, _escape_?” Hux nearly laughed at the idea, “He’s one of the most hated men in the galaxy, and he was the Supreme Leader of it. No. He’ll go down with that ship.”

“He has that Jedi with him. Hux, _the Jedi-killer is in love with a Jedi!_ ”

“General, the _Colossus_ is moving Sir. Sub-light. Towards this ship,” an ensign called, a nervous quaver in her voice. 

Everyone remembered the maneuver that had split the _Supremacy._

**

At some point, you have to pick your battles. Ben Solo took Rey’s hand in his, and contacted his Knight on the Secondary bridge.

“Trudgen Ren, forget the Main Bridge, in fact, shield the secondary bridge where you are now, and disable all Main Bridge functions. Then lock a collision course with the _Steadfast.”_ The Supreme Leader looked grimly at the Scavenger beside him. “We are abandoning ship. Find Bonn on the _Night Buzzard._ ” 

Beside him, Rey was contacting the Resistance: “General Organa, we need a transport now. The is a maintenance airlock behind the sensor tower that holds the Main bridge. The _Falcon_ can pick us up there. Here’s a blueprint of the Star-Destroyer.” 

Kylo tensed. Then his shoulders slumped. He knew the truth now. 

It was time to come home.

**

“Sir, the _Colossus_ has just fired on us.” 

“Hux. Fire on the _Colossus_.” Enrich had waited enough. The deal with the Black Sun had been useless, and Kylo Ren had decided to attack after all, in some foolish gamble only the young hope to win. The provocation was all the justification they needed. 

“I _told_ you he would prefer to engage us!” Hux was exhilarated by the confrontation he was finally having with Snoke’s rabid cur. Here, on board his flagship, far from the Darksider’s choke-hold, and with seven ships against one maimed one, he was _certain_ to win. “All weapons FIRE ON THAT SHIP!”

**

“C’mon Chewie, let’s go get them!” Luke shouted, Chewie roaring in assent. 

_Force, I hope he doesn’t kill me_ , he thought inwardly.

**

Captain Telia heard the order come in on the loudspeaker. She looked at Archex. 

“I guess we find out where your men’s loyalty really stands.”

The _Colossus_ had fired one shot at the Steadfast, then no more. Instead, it picked up speed, still aimed at the First Order flagship, like some gigantic arrowhead. 

Telia looked at her second-in-command. The older man looked back. 

“Fire on the Rogue ship,” she ordered, voice carefully neutral. 

“Yes Sir,” Commander Billiam Drake answered, keeping his voice also neutral, “as soon as the canons warm up. Any minute now.”

**

Poe looked over anxiously at the firefight starting before them. The parade was over. As soon as Leia voiced assent over the comms, he ordered Black Squadron to fire on any Black Sun ship still out in open space 

**

Bonn and his dozen men were glad for the _Buzzard’s_ shielding; the transport fired a few shots at the Black Sun fighters, weaving between their volleys and the Star-Destroyers devastating bolts behind them, making the port hangard just as Trugden, a limping Ushar, and one remaining red guard busted into the bay. Some of the _Colossus’_ stormtrooper contingent were running about frantically, unable to tell friend from foe. Bonn picked the men he had come for, then a few stormtroopers that raised their hands in surrender, choosing the Ren’s Knights over the criminal syndicate. Their allegiances could be tested later. They shut the gangplank, flew out of the hangard under fire, and jumped into hyperspace. 

**

The mercenaries and thugs made good progress towards the bridge, mostly unhindered, except here and there by confused stormtroopers that had been caught in the crossfire between the First Order and its Rogue elements. The Blacks almost pitied them, their forced recruitment aboard the _Colossus_ no fault of their own, although most of them, they suspected, had never had much choice, having been conscripted almost as soon as they could walk. 

Now the little detachment of slavers stood before the damaged but firmly shut door of the main bridge. 

The control panel was shot; they would have to hack their way in with the laser saw. It would take time. While their technician readied the tool, their comms tech took out the comms snooper and pressed it against the door, pressing the earpiece to his ear. He signaled and everyone hushed for thirty seconds. 

“There’s some banging around, some grunting,” he told his gang leader over his own commlink. “Swearing. There’s someone there, but they're injured.”

**

“These Resurgent-Class ships can take a beating,” Hux exclaimed admiringly. The Rogue ship, as crippled as it was, was still holding up pretty well. Of course, it wasn’t being battered at full discharge, some of the Fleet Captains understandably firing only reluctantly on their Supreme Leader. There would be some prosecutions after this, as well as some “motivational” disciplining. 

Still, this battle was taking way too long and now the ships were uncomfortably close to each other.

“Aim for the Bridge. Both Bridges. This had gone on long enough.” Hux ordered, and Pryde nodded. 

**

The Bridge doors finally ripped open. The gangsters rushed in, preparing to swiftly execute anyone they found. 

They found one man sitting down, dressed in red armor and holding a blaster pointed at them, quickly dispatched. Of Kylo Ren or _the woman_ there was no sign. 

“They escaped!” gasped the comms tech, reaching for his mic. “Boss, they-”

Just then the immense starport was shattered and all the air was sucked out of his lungs.

**

In the silence on the command bridge of the Steadfast, none of the communication staff informed the two mutineer generals of the sudden appearance, then disappearance, of a YT-1300 Corellian light freighter.

“Ah, the _Incinerator_ finally decided to join us,” Pryde commented when they saw the command tower explode. Nice shot!” 

“And now, it looks like everyone’s weapons are finally ready.” The Colossus was being ripped apart before their very eyes. Frantic calls from the crime syndicate were being ignored: Hux would deal with them later. 

“Navigation, steer us away from this wreck, before some unfortunate soul floats up across the viewport and someone has to go push it off.” 

**

Minutes earlier:

“Archex, we’re safe. You can act now!” 

“FIRE ON THAT SHIP!” Captain Telia San’Luxida yelled into the weapons’ pit. 

**

On the _Millenium Falcon_ , a terrible, bloodied spectre stood in the lounge, waiting for his uncle to come out of his father’s ship’s cockpit. 

For a moment, no one said anything. Then Chewbacca covered his snout and let out a low whine. 

“Yes please, Chewie,” Rey answered, “He’d like a shower and a change of clothes.” She looked down at herself, “and for me too.” 

Rey thought maybe her Dark-half would want a moment alone to wash and process everything they had gone through already today but Ben reached for her hand and pulled her into the little fresher with him. 

The door closed and Luke Skywalker was now face to face with two Knights of Ren, and a Red trooper. Chewie sighed and led them to the cargo bay, where they rummaged through the stock, looking for five sets of clothing while they waited for their turn in the fresher. 

Luke stood for a moment in silence before walking back to the cockpit to punch in the coordinates of Tatooine. The past and its consequences had come aboard his dead friend’s ship. 

*

In the shower, Kylo Ren let Rey wash the mess of battle off him, and she scrubbed hard, rushing to get to the man Ben underneath the horror. Then he helped wash her and it quickly became evident, when he lingered in places, that he needed more than a back scrub.

She let him take her.

Tall, muscular Kylo Ren could take whatever he wanted by force, but all he wanted was to be accepted into her folds, and to earn that acceptance he was not above kneeling before her and waking the little sandy-haired animal hidden between her legs, nudging her open then laving at her spreading wetness until her legs faltered and he had to hold her up. When she mewled loudly at last, he waited until she pulled him up and then he picked her off the ‘fresher’s floor, settled her around his hips, and gently found his way into her. 

It had been days and between kisses the fullness of him brought deep, throaty moans out of her. Her head lolled to the side, eyes closed in rapture. As he thrust into her, he looked into her face with intent, reading her, wanting to see every ripple of her pleasure, feel every ripple of her body in a profound communion with his Dyad-half. He was bathing in her pool of Light, letting it wash over his anger and his fear, quenching him - like a burning blade into cool waters. 

When he finally gave himself into her, his legs gave out and they both slid down to the fresher floor, crying with the intensity of the passion they shared.

He was much calmer when they came out, finding simple fiber robes in pale greys and tans that just fit him on a small bench outside the door. They both dressed and he looked a different man coming out than he had going into the fresher. 

He almost was. 

**

On board the _Steadfast_ , FN-8721 was in the uncomfortable position of being the only one of his squad left. He had watched the mutiny, seen the Colossus be pummeled into a charred wreck. He went back to his quarters, hoping to find armor or clothing that would blend in better than the bright red he was wearing now, and donned his trainers and light-grey gear. He waited to hear from Archex or Bonn, or another squad mate, hoping Hux would not decide to simply round up the now-defeated Supreme Leader’s loyal men and summarily execute them. It seemed like a logical move such a commander would do after a mutiny. 

“Enjoy your victory, Hux, you have another mutiny coming for you in very little time.”

The wait seemed interminable.


	26. Part III - Home (is where the heart lies)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He again envisioned the transformation of his nephew from the moment he had stepped on board ship — a terrifying manifestation of brutality — to when he had come out of the fresher, calm and composed after having “communed” with his Dyad-Half.  
> Love.  
> Consort was the proper word. He nodded for Bonn to continue.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Break's over. These next two set up a few things.

It wouldn’t be the first time that Telia San’Luxida had had to lie to survive. Archex on the other hand, had had little practice since his boyhood; he would need the skill more than ever now. 

**

“We did it, Armitage. The First Order is in the hands of capable commanders once again.”

“Enrich, your support was invaluable. I make you Grand Marshall of the First Order.”

They stood on the deck of the main bridge of the Steadfast, congratulating each other, and those that had quickly adapted to the change in power congratulated them as well. 

“Grand Marshall!” the old man, paused, considering. “Yes, of course. I suppose that makes you the Supreme Leader.”

“That’s right.” Hux almost smiled as he said, “I believe a parade is in order.”

**

The Lars Homestead on Tatooine looked to have been abandoned for years, until it was suddenly invaded by a small army of strange allies. 

Luke Skywalker was surrounded by mostly naked girls and boys, Knights of Ren, Red Elite troopers, regular stormtroopers, and an Ex-Supreme Leader who was also his nephew he had driven out of the new Jedi Academy six years ago. 

Overwhelmed, he looked to the skies, waiting for his sister and the rest of the Resistance to appear.

Rey was hard at work, fixing the condensation towers as fast as she could, while some of the kids helped clear the sand from the living rooms to get everyone out of the scorching suns. Some of them had already started showing signs of burning and one suffered from insolation. The worse off were piled inside the _Buzzard_ or under the wings of the _Falcon_. 

Even if she got the homestead running for only a few hours, it kept her mind busy. Every now and then she caught a glance of Ben Solo, who was rooting through the abandoned belongings for some more clothes and anything useful for setting up meals for way more people than the little homestead had ever accommodated.

For now, everyone was on their best behavior. The priority was taking care of the slaves they had all come together to save. 

**

“I think that was the last of them,” Poe spoke into his mic, “The Black Sun syndicate is eradicated.”

“Whoever managed to survive is going to have one hell of a story to tell,” Leia mused.

The Resistance had witnessed a _mutiny_ within the First Order, and a quick betrayal of the slaver syndicate that had hoped to join them. 

Rather than wait and see what else the still-impressive fleet would do, they had decided to jump to Tatooine to see how the mismatched pieces had fallen together.

Leia would see her son. 

***

“Are you all that survived?” Ziton Moj looked at the dozen men and women before him. Only the walking wounded had made it off the wreckage, tightly packed into a troop transport their surviving hacker had managed to hijack. 

_This was disastrous._ _We should have known the moment the Falcon appeared,_ he thought.

The ragtag crew were scrambling to load only the most precious cargo hurriedly onto discreet freighters, getting away from Nakadia a sudden priority. 

“Are they still ignoring our calls?” he called over to his most trusted officer. 

“They are, Boss.”

“We were disposable to them. Even the Empire didn’t treat us that way.” 

“Everyone is disposable, Boss.”

“Not you, Tavik. You know that.”

“Sure, Boss.”

Ziton Moj tried to see how he could use the situation. That the First Order had betrayed them would make other crime syndicates wary of accepting deals with the organization now more than ever. They had holorecordings of that betrayal. Most importantly, they had recordings of the deal they had cut with the Colossus’ rogue crew, General Menkin, and then the second deal they had brokered with the F.O. themselves: to supply the F.O. with comfort-slaves in exchange for giving their ship back. That information would tarnish the F.O.’s reputation as a brutal - but moral - regime. Which made them a target. 

And they had that other recording as well.

**

**_General Armitage HUX speech on the Steadfast parade ground, as recorded on galactic date 239th, 36 ABY (fragment):_ **

> “... our brave but impulsive Supreme Leader _insisted_ on visiting his wrath personally on the morally corrupt crew that had cut a deal with a _crime syndicate,”_ he spat the words with scorn, “to continue their disgusting trade, and we held back fire as long as we thought he would prevail. When we learned he had killed Damos Menkin on the main bridge, we cheered and for a moment, he did hold it,” here Hux paused for effect, “but then we heard the thugs break through, and when they fired at us we knew all was lost, and that we had to retaliate brutally to shorten a battle that would have further damaged our fleet, even if victory was inevitable. 
> 
> Even if Kylo Ren was Supreme Leader for only a short time, there will be state funerals _this time_ — we _will_ honor his memory and his ideals of an incorruptible First Order. I will assume command of our proud Organization, having been second-in-command for the past four years, and Grand Marshall Pryde and the others support and will assist me in continuing our unfailing mission to unite the Galaxy under one benevolent, disciplined organization that will...”

**_(EOF)_ **

**

Bonn and Luke shook hands. The Elite guard sergeant had grief written on his face — he’d lost most of his troops — but taking care of the refugees kept him busy. He’d come to meet Master Skywalker out of courtesy, and Luke got the impression he wanted to bridge the obvious gap between his Master and the Jedi Master. 

“Archex should be the one doing this, but it’s just as well he’s still on the fleet. I just hope he doesn’t get purged and executed.

“I don’t know the Supreme Leader very well. We were assigned to him when Rey of Jakku was released back to you, but we followed the rescue operation he supported with interest. It’s an honor to be his guard. Sure he can be … temperamental — Luke snorted at that — but my understanding is that he’s learned to better control that temper. Of course, he still has mood swings, but now that he’s reunited with his… _consort_? It should be easier for him.”

Luke startled at the word ‘consort’. He’d looked at some of the holos of Kylo Ren, with that terrifying Ren mask he had made for himself. He thought of innocent Rey that had come to him for help. He remembered that fierce anger he had seen erupt on her face when the truth had been revealed. 

Then he again visioned the transformation of his nephew from the moment he had stepped on board ship — a terrifying manifestation of brutality — to when he had come out of the fresher, calm and composed after having “communed” with his Dyad-Half. 

Love.

 _Consort_ was the proper word. He nodded for Bonn to continue. 

“I’ve worked with Archex for years, though. He really hand-picked the Supreme Leader’s close guard: people he knew were more… sensitive to what those kids had gone through.” His face fell a bit at that. “We lost good men, trying to bring Menkin and that lot down. And then the First Order abandoned us, just like that.” 

He looked up sharply at Luke and the Jedi braced himself: “The Jedi were a “disciplined” organization too, weren’t they?”

Luke breathed heavily before answering. “Yeah, they were.” 

“It’s ‘they’, not ‘us’?”

“The Jedi fell to hubris. I didn’t understand that until it was too late.”

Bonn looked around them, at the _Night Buzzard_ and the _Falcon_. “Snoke was a monster. I hope both of you can still find common ground, Master Luke.” 

**

“Ben, put your hand over mine. You can learn this.”

Ushar was sitting comfortably in the little infirmary on board the Buzzard. His knee was a mess of cut and torn ligaments. He was a little giddy from the sedation. 

The three other Knights were inside where Kylo Ren could keep an eye on them. They had hunted Luke Skywalker for years and now their prey was within range. So he kept them here where they could watch the Jedi-Aspirant teach something to the Jedi-Killer. 

They put their hands above and below Ushar’s knee, and connected through the Bond before falling into a meditative stance. 

“Okay, now feel this: I’m going to probe him like you do, but his knee instead of his mind.”

“Right.”

“Ok, that first time, I used what Rage I had left, but as I was doing it, I ran out and I had to use something else to finish the job.”

“What?” 

“ _Love_ , Ben.”

They heard Cardo swear from the doorway, but Kuruk took his hand and he stilled.

“Ok, here we go.”

It wasn’t easy, but that was expected. Rey didn’t love any of the Knights, but she loved Ben, and most importantly, she loved _Life_ . Ben let himself open to that compassion so it could resonate within him, and it found that little _thing_ he was letting grow inside of him. It was there for this, he realized. He could use the Force in a way that shared, that gave of himself, instead of taking away. He felt the Force move within him, and directed it through his hands, onto the path his probing was gently opening for him: here where the hot pain was gathered.

It worked. 

Ushar opened his eyes and gingerly felt around his now hale-looking joint. He flexed it a bit, then more. He sat up, then raised and lowered his leg; it was like new. He looked at both his healers, awe clear on his face, before he shuttered his expression and said: “I didn’t know you felt that way about me, Master.” 

“Shut up, Ren. I feel that way about all of you.”

The others came close to see what they couldn’t believe they were hearing. “That’ll come in useful in battle,” Cardo smirked, but he was still holding Kuruk’s hand. Trudgeon walked in in turn. 

“You think we can learn that?” 

“Do you want to ?” Rey asked. 

The four surviving Knights looked to their Master. He nodded. “It won’t be easy, though.”

**

Tatooine. Birth world of the Skywalkers. Ground Zero of events that had transformed the Galaxy for generations. Leia looked down on the gold-swirled planet her little fleet was approaching. She’d only been on it twice: once to rescue Han from the Hutt - and be caught herself. Once to retrieve the Shadowcast Key and destroy it before it was compromised. Her second mission had somehow brought closure to the first one: she had also found her grandmother Shmi’s journal. She had lost it before having the chance to give it to Ben, but she had read it enough to better understand and forgive her father. And her son.

Beside her, the droids were considering the planet too. C3-Po had practically been born there. If it was possible for a droid to hate a planet, then Threepio did. 

“That place is cursed,” Connix spoke, voicing what everyone else had been thinking. 

**

“Archex, you have to offer your services to Hux. You know that.” Telia San’Luxida was a pragmatic woman. As tempted as she was to keep Archex hidden in her quarters - she hadn’t felt that way about a man in years - she knew he might still be able to instill confidence in Hux and get close enough to him to play a key role in the following days of organization. 

“I can’t do it, Telia. I’ll kill him. Then it will just pass on to Pryde. Pryde has some old imperial connections, like Menkin did.”

“Then, how do I explain your disappearance?” 

Archex’s shoulders slumped. He hadn’t meant to put that weight on her. He looked at her and she had confirmation her growing feelings were reciprocated.

“I’ll tell them the truth: that you deserted,” she finally announced. The crimson Captain flinched at that, then nodded. It _was_ the truth. 

“Now change your clothes and go find a place to hide. Rey mapped a few out. I’ll send you help within the hour, with crypto comms for Finn and the people we found on the other ships.” She straightened, “I’ll handle the assholes myself.” She picked up a datapad, leaving another for Archex to find his way in the mazes of tunnels of the _Incinerator,_ and made for the door. Before she exited, she said: “Be safe. This can all be over quickly. Then we can make other plans.” She thought of something more and added, hesitantly: “Archex, I may have to appear very _friendly_ to Hux. I hope you understand,” then she left. 

The disgraced captain swore and changed into the neutral clothing she had found for him. 

*

“It was a good speech, Supreme Leader, but Archex didn’t believe it. He knows we fired without confirmation that Kylo Ren — Telia said the name with venom — “and that _girl”_ — she added extra here — were dead. He’s disappeared. I have my people hunting him down, but a few transports have circulated between the Incinerator and others in the fleet since then. He could be anywhere; I suspect he may even have decided to join the Resistance.”

Armitage Hux looked at the formidable woman. She certainly knew how to enforce regulations. She was also ambitious, if her venomous tone was any indication. Had she hoped for some kind of “ _rapprochement_ ” to the handsome Ren? Had she felt the Scavenger to be some kind of rival she had lost to? Women were fickle, jealous creatures; no wonder he stayed celibate. Ren’s seduction had precipitated his downfall. He looked at her again. She kept her face carefully neutral. She wasn’t after him, then. Good. He wouldn’t be so foolish. 

**

Finn had been hiding in one of his dead squad-mates cabin for a full cycle when he heard a knock, then something dropped before the door, then a short series of knocks before the person left. After a full minute, he opened the door and retrieved the small package. 

In it was a new comms device and a small handwritten note. 

‘They escaped’, was all the note said, and the Ex-Elite guard breathed a sigh of relief. 

He placed the earpiece in his ear and activated the comm device. He heard the beep and blurbs of encryption then a distorted voice answered him: “Finn?”

“Finn here.”

“Meet us in the abandoned storage room on Deck 24, zone Golf (G). Find an idle mouse-bot in front of a door. Speak your full name to it. Out.”

He looked at the paper note again _. They escaped_ ; then he ate it. 

No meeting-time meant _now_. He carefully donned the standard Stormtrooper armor he had managed to collect from the hampers in the showers and made his way starboard to the appointed area. 

**

“Still no body?” 

“None that we have identified as theirs, Supreme Leader.”

Trawling through the space around the wreck of the Colossus had failed to turn up the evidence he needed to be reassured. Hux grunted in frustration. Black clothing that usually made up the Ren’s distinct garb had been found, gloves and cloaks and even a Ren helmet (with no head in it), but none of the bodies that had floated out into space were that of Kylo or the Scavenger. None of the Knights either. Most of the bodies found on board the ship were those of the Crimson Guard, dead and now accounted for, save three: sergeant BN-4546 and two others. The salvaged clothing was being analysed for trace DNA, but they were so covered in mingled blood and spatter that the chem machines were taking an offensively long time to arrive at the positive results they needed. Ren and his monstrous escort had mowed their way through a thousand troops at least. 

“Sir, some of the wreckage have begun falling into the atmosphere. The Nakadians have asked us to vaporize it so it doesn’t fall on an inhabited area. It’s entirely possible the people occupying the main bridge have already burned up in the atmosphere,” supplied the Lieutenant in charge of the salvaging operation. 

Armitage Hux had been on a disabled ship crashing planetside with Kylo Ren. They’d survived by Ren’s sheer force of will alone. He wouldn’t put it past him — especially with his Jedi accomplice _and_ his Knights — to find a way to survive atmospheric reentry. 

He looked at General Pryde, sucking at a sore in his cheek that had begun to distract him. The general had a hand to his chin, trying to guess where their very dangerous prey might be. 

“If the Black Sun had them, they would have asked for a ransom, or gloated about their catch by now,” the older man surmised. 

“Check the flight logs again, Ensign. What about the _Night Buzzard_ ? It hasn’t been seen since the mut- “ — he caught himself — “since the operation. It had troops on board and BN-4546 piloting it.”

“That ship has some of the best stealth tech we ever equipped on any ship, Sir, but we have people on the lookout in most systems.”

“If by some miracle, they survived, they had two choices: flee his responsibilities to elope with the Scavenger like some lovesick boy, or join up with the Resistance and everything he hunted down for years.

“In any case, he’s not coming back as Supreme Leader,” the New Supreme Leader concluded. 

He gave the order for the salvage team to finish cleaning up the mess and meet back up with the fleet. 

**

The Lars’s homestead was getting crowded with the command shuttle _Phoenix_ and Poe’s _Black Bird_ landing next to the others. Leia had reached her brother Luke’s side but he shook his head in answer to her question. 

“What do you mean he’s “unavailable?” Leia was trying and failing not to lose patience. Chewie whined an apologetic whine and tilted his head towards the _Falcon_ who’s gangplank was raised.

“They’re a new couple, Leia. I remember another young couple in the _Falcon_ , thirty-five years ago.” Luke chuckled and Leia blushed. 

“He knew we were coming. He’s doing this on purpose.” 

“Probably. But he’s a lot calmer after he ‘communes’ with his Dyad-half. Ah. Here they come.”

Ben Solo and Rey of Jakku were coming down the ramp, looking for all the world as if they had been in the deep trance of meditation, and Luke supposed they had. They wore the light-colored flowing robes of tatooine style they had found in the home. Rey's hair was tied in intricate braids, while Ben’s was up in a bun. 

On seeing his mother, Ben stopped for a heartbeat, then took a deep breath and started towards her again. 

The suns were setting.

He stopped a few paces in front of her, Rey at his side, and Leia just managed to croak a “walk with me”, before turning away and shuffling towards the suns. 

Ben looked at Rey and she nodded in return, and wordlessly, they parted. 

“Luke said you were ‘communing with your Dyad-half’.” 

“I was, in a way. Took longer than I thought it would.” He added sheepishly, “I never got much practice.”

“Does she know? Did you ask her?” Leia was smiling, memories of the Alderaan art of hair braiding surging to her mind.

“Not yet. I will if… if you… accept. Mom.”

Leia reached for her son’s hand. He engulfed hers in his. “What name will you give her?”

“Solo, mom. Rey Solo.”

Here Leia faltered and fell to the sand, and Ben sat with her. “Welcome home, Ben Solo, my beautiful son.”


	27. Home (continued)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He’d made a messy bun so she would be tempted to fix it, but as she did the idea had bloomed in his mind to braid her hair, telling her he wanted to do something nice for his mother and relax before she arrived.

Luke left Rey’s side to check with the others and when Rose spotted Rey she ran up to her, worry creased on her forehead. Rey took her to Bonn inside the Buzzard. The sergeant had found a change of clothes, now mixing some Knight’s blacks in with the Elite red, the other Knights were considering lighter blacks, but one of them had donned Tatooine's light sand colored, claiming it was camouflage. 

Bonn shook his head. “Hard to guess, I’m pretty sure he’s with Archex — you’ve met Archex? — yeah, things are simmering just under the surface in the fleet, but we all have to wait.” 

Luke re-joined the little group. “We’ll spend the night here, I guess. The kids are exhausted.”

“The others went to the nearby village — Mos Eisley? — for supplies and to stretch their legs.” Rose told them. 

Luke nodded again, then straightened. “Rey, I should meet with the kids. I mean the Knights.” 

Rey gave him a dubious look. “I don’t think so. Not before you speak with Ben. Some of them are not kids; they’ve been Ren as long as you’ve been a Jedi.” 

Luke knew at least two of his Padawans had followed Ben into the DarkSide; he thought he’d recognized one when they’d come on board covered in the grime of battle. He thought he might be the one now dressed in light gear. But he didn’t argue; he turned back.

The two women followed him and the three Resistance members walked towards the Phoenix, where they met with Larma D'Arcy and the rest of the command staff. 

A series of bleets and clicks greeted Rey as the droids moved to greet and then an apoplectic cry from C3-PO. 

“Miss Rey! Oh my, oh my, congratulations are in order!”

“Congratulations, Threepio? Sure, thank you! It was quite an operation, we rescued almost forty slaves, and eliminated their takers.”

“You did, miss Rey, but I meant— 

“Oh, yes, and I brought Ben Solo back this time.” Rey of Jakku beamed the brightest smile they had ever seen on her and that gave them all pause.

“Why, yes, I meant that too which is why I wanted to congratulate you on—”

R2-D2 had caught up with them and bleeped something urgent and so fast Rey couldn’t possibly decipher it. On that, Threepio answered: “Are you sure?” and R2 simply answered one bleep: “Yes”.

Whatever it was, it made the golden droid suddenly straighten and apologize profusely: “Miss Rey, I must apologise for my rudeness. I will let you share the news as you see fit.” 

“Uh thank you, Threepio, that’s very kind of you. Ben is off with his mother right now. I think they have a lot to talk about, so I wouldn’t disturb them just now. But if you want to make yourself useful, some of the slaves don’t speak basic, you could interview them.”

“Indeed, Miss Rey. There are myriad languages in the Galaxy. Not all of them spoken,” he added before waddling off towards Luke’s old home. After a moment, Luke joined them; he hadn’t entered the place yet. 

The place had been successively claimed and abandoned over the years, its location so remote and the conditions so harsh as to discourage even the toughest colonizers. They had found it as such a time of abandonment, and had been lucky anything useful had been left at all. Maybe it had been left hurriedly, attacked by Tuskan Raiders. The memory was still painful to him. No traces of violence were visible, at least. 

The place was small but many of the kids had managed to find some corner to lay down for the night. Supper had been made and served outside in the little courtyard, Ben dutifully preparing it with Bonn and Rey, like when it was his turn in the Jedi Academy kitchen. Luke had watched him from afar. The two still hadn’t spoken. He understood the young man wanted to speak with his mother first.

**

The mouse-bot was giving him a hard time: “Finn!” he repeated, but the bot replied “Incorrect,” and a little red light flashed in sync with one next to the access hatch. 

“FN-8721,” he tried; same response. Then he groaned and murmured “FN _-2187_.”

“Correct.” The lights flashed green, and the door slid open. He slipped through, muttering a heartfelt “fuck you” at the little bot, who wasn’t programmed to be offended by that. 

He was greeted by a young commander by the name of Chel Manning, who bid him follow her into a room cluttered with abandoned tech and equipment. 

Archex was there, and Finn finally felt like he could breathe for the first time in two days. 

About a hundred people stood in the room, and it gave him hope — especially when one trooper beside him told him that many more had been convened yesterday and more would meet tomorrow. Not just troopers; some of the service crew and clerical staff were there too. Many who, in a short time, had felt the collar of command slip during the month after Snoke’s demise and now refused to be collared again by Hux. Word of the “super-elite-trooper” program had spread. 

Commander Manning had been invited to speak and she climbed onto the little platform. 

“I was on the main bridge during the confrontation with the Colossus…” she started, and recalled the events up until her heart gave and she was dismissed. “They called it a ‘brave sacrifice’ by our Supreme Leader, but it really _was a Coup_ , like you’ve heard since then. I heard them more than once complain about the way Kylo Ren was changing things, calling him ‘lovestruck’ a few times and personally, I can think of worse things than Kylo Ren being in love.” Some chuckled at that; many knew of ‘Darth Tantrum’. 

Archex let her finish before taking over. “Thank you, Commander Manning, your accesses in communications will be invaluable over the next few days. I see Finn is here and can join us now. Finn?”

The dusky-skinned man made his way to the front and now people started recognizing him. “Hello,” he started, “My name is Finn, and I’m sorry I didn’t prepare anything. Ok, here goes...” And Finn recounted his travels from the village of Tuannul on Jakku to his return to the Steadfast. Telling it, Finn realized what a journey he’d had. 

“The Resistance isn’t there for no reason,” he told them, “and if Kylo Ren is with them, it means that the Dark Powers that held us all have fallen away to nothing, and we can be free. We can own ourselves again.” There was a cheer at that.

“Hux’s new Program is as terrible as you think it is, and I still break out in a sweat thinking how close I came to being…” he tried to find a word to express the utter soulless-ness of the troopers he had spent time with. He shuddered instead. “It was like they had been scooped out of any personality.” 

Even murmurs stopped at that. For almost ten seconds, there was absolute silence, like some unspoken prayer was offered for their sacrificed brothers. Then Finn lifted his head again,

“I know most of you wonder what will become of us without the First Order. I know we grew up in the ranks, thinking the Order is our only family, but it’s not true. We’re not alone. We’ve got friends out there. They’ll help us if we show them there’s hope.” He thought of Leia’s hope of Ben Solo finally returning home, and he knew his next words to be true even without having witnessed it himself. “Leia Organa never gave up, even after Crait, and if she can forgive Kylo Ren, she can understand us being used and abused like him. 

“What our mothers and fathers fought and cried for, for the _theft_ of their future, we will not let it happen anymore.” A new murmur was rising among the men and women. Encased in their plasteel shell and kept in the huge kennels of star-destroyers, few of them ever saw other people but their comrades, anyone else being considered either enemy or conquered. 

“They’ve taken enough of us,” Finn added, “but they forgot we _too_ are people of the Galaxy. And there’s a lot more of us than there are First Order Generals and Supreme Leaders.”

**

“The Black Sun have sent us a message, S— Supreme Leader.” The new comms ensign was a bit green, but he was learning fast. 

“Yes what is it, Ensign?” Hux wondered if the near-obliterated syndicate was foolish enough to try to revive the deal they’d cut. “Play it on the bridge holo.”

The young man hesitated: “It sounds like sensitive information, Sir.” 

The thugs were foolish enough, apparently. “Send it to the port briefing room, then.”

Hux signed General Pryde and they stepped into the small adjoining room. 

“We should have known the deal was too good to be true. Now we are going to make sure everyone knows.” The Falleen was reclining in some kind of overlarge leather chair that seemed to have been covered in an disturbingly pale leather in contrast with his blue-green reptilian skin. He leaned forward and behind him appeared a round rose dot, very much like a human nipple. Hux shuddered. These people were slavers… too. 

“The scandal you were hoping to avoid is still a possibility, General… unless you uphold our deal. If not, we have recordings of that deal that can be distributed either to our brother gangs, or to your allies. My understanding is that you have few allies left, yes?

“We have other recordings as well, one you should find interesting. Ziton Moj out.”

Pryde looked at Hux, “They could be bluffing. What if they’re not?”

“They should have known that the First Order would tell any lie to get their ship and their rogue crew back. They cut that other deal with Menkin,” retorted Hux. “We’ve already started to announce that we’ve purged our ranks of our undesirables and tightened regulations: there will be no exceptions to quarter inspections now.” 

“We can blame the temporary debauchery on Kylo Ren. He _had_ sequestered a woman in his quarters, had he not ? He was _using_ her ?”

“That is absolutely true. Brilliant, Enrich. Blame the previous administration! I can’t be responsible for _everything_ that goes on in these ships.” 

They paused for a moment. 

“I would like to know what that other recording is.” 

Hux had a dread feeling he knew. Kylo Ren’s Crimson sergeant BN-4546 hadn’t even tried to contact them, or bring those troops back. And with no bodies found…

Pryde sighed. “It’s best to be sure. Tell them we’ll meet them.”

**

Ziton Moj sat in his favorite chair, looking at the holo of the _Falcon_ detaching itself from the command tower of the _Colossus_ again. Solo’s son was still alive. That no one had advised the high command of that ship having rescued him told him plenty about the internal state of affairs of the First Order. 

***

It was Chewbacca that came to get them. One sun had set and the temperature had already dropped. Connix was with Chewie, bringing a warm coat for Leia, who was by now embraced by her son to keep warm, but was in no hurry to go back to the rest of the Resistance. 

Son and mother stood up, but the Wookie pushed the son back down, and sat down in turn. Connix brought the princess back to the rest of her people. 

A series of low whine started the conversation between the two men.

“I’m lucky I survived, yeah. It came close. I live to regret it, though, I can tell you that.”

The wookie groaned at that. 

“It was like I was insane. For years. Like my mind wasn’t my own.” A pause. “It wasn’t.”

More groans. A soft whine.

“Dad told me about that: how he’d found you in a cage. You were a beast.”

Chewie said nothing for a while, before adding:

“<I was a _monster_ ; it was luck and compassion that saved me. It’s luck and compassion that saved you.>”

“I have a ways to go before I’m saved, Uncle Chewie.” 

A roar and a slap on the back almost sent the big man tumbling forward.

“<This time, I’ll be here to keep you on the right path.>”

“I get that, Uncle Chewie.” Ben chuckled as he clutched his shoulder, which had almost dislocated. They rose and on their way back they crossed Luke having worked enough courage to have the talk with his nephew he had been avoiding for hours. They both had. 

Just under the _Falcon’s_ wing, Poe had taken out his Mandolin and was playing softly by the little fire someone had put together, and some of the kids joined him in song. 

The second sun was setting and the sudden darkness spooked Ben. He stopped his tracks. Chewie looked at them both before continuing on towards the light and the sound of people relaxing after a hard day’s work. 

“You’ve all missed me terribly, it seems,” Ben said, only half mockingly. 

“You can be sure I had quite a reception party when Chewie brought me back.” He ran his hand over his cheek. “She knows. I told her.”

Ben looked at his uncle, in the dim light he could make out haunted eyes. He wondered if his were just as haunted. Probably. 

“So you hid on that island for six years?”

“I even cut myself off from the Force.”

“You cut—” Ben reeled from the revelation. It sounded like a kind of death. It would be a certain way to hide from him. From Snoke too. 

“I’m not sure who I was most afraid would find me. You, or your mother.” 

“Haha, yeah. But she hasn’t said a word to me about that, or about— ” he breathed deep before letting the word out, “about Dad.” 

“Our children mean more to us, I think, than any scoundrel that steals our heart. Remember that.” 

The two men reflected on that. Love was hope for the future.

“Uncle, I’m sorry about the school. I panicked.”

“I know son, I panicked too. But the school, that wasn’t you.”

“You know that? I couldn’t stop it!” Snoke had managed a projection that must have put him out for days, but had successfully destroyed any chance of Ben going back.

“No Ben, you weren’t strong enough then.” The Jedi Master had felt a surge of power that hadn’t come from the area. He’d puzzled over the source for months before realizing it’s provenance. 

Snoke. 

“I fought him once you know. Snoke.” 

Ben listened to the other side of the story he’d been told by the DarkSider. It had been a draw, both coming away from the confrontation severely wounded: Snoke disfigured, Luke burned by lightning that had caused him fits and seizures for months afterwards, like aftershocks. 

“It was just as terrible then as it had been the first time I’d been struck by lightning, by Emperor Palpatine. Cowed me, for sure.” Ben nodded. He knew what being hit by Snoke’s lightning was like. 

“After that, I was afraid of meeting him again. I was a coward.”

“I had to trick him to kill him. It wasn’t easy.” Ben told his own story of confronting his Dark Master. It was only his growing feelings for Rey that had carried him past the terror he’d felt. And a fair amount of rage as well. 

“It needed a Force-Dyad to take him down.” 

“A Force Dyad. A ‘power like life itself’. I found some mention of it in the Sith texts. The Sith were trying to create one artificially with the Rule of Two. They failed.”

“Hmmm. A Dyad requires Balance.” Luke felt he was finally understanding something fundamental about the Force. “We’ll study that later. For now... Bonn calls Rey your ‘Consort’.”

Ben hid his smile. “Yeah?”

“It sounds appropriate. Right.”

“Thank you, Uncle.”

**

“Rey, how is my son?” Leia was eating some kind of stew made from the rations on board the _Night Buzzard_. Luxury quality compared to the usual fare. Protein-rich. 

“You just spend an hour with him.” Rey was tired now, and wary. There had been tensions between the two sides of the Force all day. Nothing overt, but she had felt it nonetheless through other senses. 

“I know, but I want to hear how you feel about him.”

“I still love him, if that’s what you’re asking. Though he put me through the fire today.” She had barely held on to her own identity. She knew what it was, now — the _Bloodlust_.

“Do you want to stay with him?”

“We are bonded in ways that are out of our control, Leia. The _Force_ bound us. But that’s not what you’re asking. Yes, I _want_ to be with him. Every way I can.” Just then the Skywalker men walked in and Ben reached right for Rey, kissing her ear. Rey giggled.

“I’m exhausted!” Ben announced, yawning almost convincingly. “I think I’ll go to bed…” He saw his mother’s look and then Rey gaped at a suddenly blushing Ben. 

“Where?” she asked him boldly, defying anyone to intervene.

“The _Buzzard_?” It was his ship, after all.

“I’ll be right there.” 

Ben bid them goodnight and walked out. 

Luke nodded at Leia. Leia nodded at Rey. Rey gave Luke an appraising look, then nodded in turn before following her lover out.

They skirted the firelight so they could make it to their ship without getting pulled into the little party that was still going under the _Falcon’s_ wing. 

Kuruk had joined the group. Cardo was just on the outskirts, hesitating. Ben stopped by him. “We have to adapt, Ren. Kuruk is welcomed, so you can be too. Just keep your temper in check, right ?”

“Yes, Master.” And he joined his mate.

*

In the _Buzzard_ , Ben saw that the two others had preferred to stay in. It would be a harder adaptation for them; they were already showing immense restraint, not taking advantage of the slave-girls they had rescued; but after the past day’s killings, they were sated. A few days from now would be a challenge for all the Ren. 

In the Ren Master’s quarters, Rey was curious, and wanted to try new things now that she felt confident and clean water was freely available. And food, and shelter. Ben let her explore his body, guiding her when needed, and pleased her easily, but he remained gentle and let her know he wanted her to be gentle as well. Here, aboard the _Buzzard_ , where terrible things had been done. 

He was on top of her, kissing her, and she could taste herself on his lips, their juices mixing in their mouths as well as in her core, and he was taking his sweet time, as if he never wanted their union to end. The Force flowed around them and when the Bond opened involuntarily she felt it; the Question. 

Earlier she had laughed at his request to braid her hair, but he had asked her after she’d fixed his bun - gathering his fragrant hair in her hand had been a sensual pleasure on its own - so she accepted, not reading his intentions. 

He’d made a messy bun so she would be tempted to fix it, but as she did the idea had bloomed in his mind to braid her hair, telling her he wanted to do something nice for his mother and relax before she arrived. 

He'd worked hesitantly at first, as if trying to remember something, then he seemed to find the pattern and picked up speed putting it together. It was an elaborate braid, more than was necessary in the desert, but he made sure every strand was neatly tucked in and when he looked at her - proud of his work - she giggled and thanked him and didn’t notice the catch in his voice when he told her she was “the one for him”.

Now, with her orgasm building inside her as a rising tide, feeling it echo in him as a loopback of pleasure, she also felt the depth of his feelings for her, and how he wanted to tell everyone those feelings and make the mythical Force-Dyad a union that ordinary mortals would understand. He wanted to give everything he had to her. His body, his heart, his family. 

His family name. 

Her heart fluttered in her chest, and as her climax overtook her senses she cried out “ _Yes Ben, yes!”_ and everything melded into one passion. 

*

“We’ll be smugglers, like Dad,” he told her. Head laying on his chest, she felt more than heard the deep rumble of his voice.

Not a legitimate transport company. Had to be something a little shady, a little Dark. 

“Ok,” she answered him. There was much to do before then. A war to end. 

“Who would do the ceremony?” she wondered. She thought Luke could do it. 

Ben thought for a while, then answered “I thought of Peavy, but now I know who; Captain San’Luxida.”

Rey nodded. “Then we better make sure she survives.”


	28. Bugs and Vermin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Abandoned might be an optimistic word, though. Ben, would you take a team and go check it out? Be diplomatic though; if someone’s moved in there, see what kind of people they are and if you can arrange some deal with them. If they’re thugs, clear them out. I’m sending Luke with you.” 
> 
> There was a loud gasp, “ _Geez_ , Leia.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, I'm working without a safety net... You can always give me some sort of feedback via comments.

Telia had been blessed with a “gift” from Supreme Leader Hux: her own troop of super-Stormtroopers. She inspected them cooly, noticing their pristine armor and sharp precision of movement. A weapon’s drill had been part of the ceremony, executed with a mechanical precision that was such that the Captain of the _Incinerator_ wondered aloud whether she was seeing droids instead.

“Oh, not quite droids, no,” had answered Hux, “We are working on a new technology, a kind of… interface, if you will.”

“An interface?” Telia didn’t like how that sounded at all but schooled her face so she appeared wide-eyed and fascinated.

“Well, as you know, in order to keep droids obedient _and_ thinking, you have to wipe their memories regularly to keep them just short of developing sentience. And you know they can be notoriously hacked, thousands at a time. In fact, it happened a few times during the clone wars— and not just by enemy combatants, but by droids that had been left unchecked, attained sentience, and then hacked their lot-brothers — or lot-mates? I’m not sure about the term — so they would disobey.”

“What happened then? I’ve only some vague memory of that.”

“About what you would expect; they turned on their officers and slaughtered every last one of them.”

“Ah,” she cringed, ‘I wondered why we didn’t use them. Then what about clones?” 

“Clones have other issues: organic beings are coded just like droids through genetic material, yes? Strains of virus were developed to perfectly adapt to whatever weakness could be found in the immune system, once again incapacitating entire lots of clones. And they _also_ have the potential to disobey.”

She looked at the perfectly still squadron before her. None moved. She tested a trooper by pushing one on the shoulder; he resisted ever so much before finally stepping back silently. Then he looked to Hux — who nodded — before replacing himself precisely.

Telia had felt a moment’s hesitation: that moment before human intelligence had chosen to obey her unspoken order to “fall back a step”. A droid would have kept resisting, being stronger. An ‘ordinary’ trooper might have apologized, but felt insulted. 

“You mentioned an interface?”

“Droids are used because of their rapid processing time of huge amounts of information, and their mechanical bodies can be much stronger than humans, to obvious advantage. But you cannot program every scenario possible, and eventually, one will encounter a situation where it will just shut down or fall into an infinite loop. 

“Organics are much weaker, but more adaptable; capable of improvisation, which is essential when the enemy combatant is himself sentient.

“Unfortunately, that same quality that makes improvisation possible - sentience - is also responsible for disobedience. So we’re working on a combination of both: a droid/organic interface that switches from one to the other according to the situation.”

Telia stared up at the handsome young psychopath: “Machine/organic Interfacing is possible, but you should know that the benefits are disappointingly short lived.”

Experimentation had been put aside for generation after the test-subjects either went insane and killed themselves after two years, or the Droid circuitry attained sentience and the result was the same, the test subject committing suicide. One effect was closely related to the other.

“A battle of wills inside the “test-subject’s” head.” The broken-nosed woman guessed.

“You could see it that way.”

“You’ve solved this ?”

“Almost. Certainly, the destruc- “ Hux caught himself. “If you don’t mind, we can speak more in detail about this later, Captain.” He turned to the drone-like troop-sergeant, “Serge-”

“Sergeant, march these men to their barracks. Dis-missed!” Telia interjected, assuming control of her gift. 

The order was called out sharply and the troop marched away in clockwork precision. They watched them for a minute before San’Luxida turned back to Hux, who wore an — interesting — look on his face. She kept her face neutral with a hint at being impressed. 

“Yes, well, you don’t hesitate much, do you?”

“‘He who hesitates is lost’,” she quoted from some long-dead patriarch. “You were saying, Supreme Leader?”

“I- ah, yes… the “dampening” of the test-subject personality eases the relation between its “two brains” — we can call it that way. And follow up is much better on maintenance. As you saw, they are much more obedient but still capable of picking up on subtleties. That was a nice test you did there Telia, simple but telling.

“And of course, the droid implant grants full access to the trooper's senses and thought processes. We either control him from the droid brain, or the organic brain.”

That was the icing on the lava-cake. 

Telia barely disguised her revulsion, twisting it into an expression she knew would please Armitage Hux. “Such Control! That’s very… powerful, Supreme Le-”

“You can call me Hux, San'Luxida. Here, in private. The title can be heavy at times.”

“Of course, Hux. It’s an important position. One that Kylo Ren didn’t quite appreciate the responsibility of it. He was too... sentimental.”

“You did help him though.” The blue eyes suddenly iced over. 

Telia was ready. “ _My_ ship was clean. It was time everyone else tidied up. Civilians have no business on board our homes.” She sustained his stare, just slightly lifting her chin up to him. “No matter the loneliness.” She stepped back. “Now if you’ll excuse me, Sup- General Hux.”

“Yes. Dismissed... Talia.” 

In her quarters, Talia immediately commed Dr. Tridang Purvhea. “They gifted me with a whole troop of them, Tridang.” She recounted what Hux had told her. “Find out what you can about that tech. Cross-reference with Dr. Indah Cylkarr on the _Steadfast._ ” She thought for a second before adding, “I suspect their real mission is to keep an eye on me.”

***

The sound of children playing woke her. In the little lounge, she found Ben Solo enjoying a cup of kaf with Cardo. Bonn was already out. 

“This is a lot to ask the others, Master. I think I’m getting used to the changes — I mean, Kuruk helps me with that — but the older ones?”

“Trudgeon’s the one who asked to learn how to heal, Ushar lived it. That’s a good step.”

“That’s for us though, for the Knights of Ren. Our order still means something, doesn’t it?”

It was a serious question and one Ben knew couldn’t be answered simply. Was he still Kylo Ren?

“Cardo, I want you to think on _what_ it means. What are the Knights of Ren? All of you should. Start here: who was Darth Vader?” Ben saw Rey and silently bid her to keep her distance for a moment.

“Well, he was the Emperor’s Enforcer - like you, Master Kylo - tasked to purge the galaxy of the remaining Jedi.”

“And how did that work out for him?”

“How did that…” Cardo trailed off. 

The Ren that had led the Order before Kylo had reveled in the single-minded destructiveness of the Order he had helped built, using the Sith Lord’s image but refusing to acknowledge the story of the man behind the mask. 

“You have access to information now. It will help you decide how you want to live from now on.”

The other Knights walked into the little lounge and Kylo pulled Rey close to him. She was a woman he wouldn’t share with them; he’d never been much into that anyway. They leered at her for only a few seconds before catching his eye and turning away. 

Which reminded him there were over two dozen half-naked girls just outside this ship he had just lost his whole command over. He had to get out there and finish his job. But first, he looked at Rey, a simple question on his face. She nodded back. 

He stood. “Ren, I am getting married,” he announced. “We are. You are the first to know.” 

Ushar sat down on the nearest stool. The others just kept quiet. Then Kuruk said: “Welcome to the Knights of Ren, Rey of Jakku.” They’d seen her fight by now. 

“Thank you. Um, I’m marrying just Kylo. In case that wasn’t clear.” She turned to Ben, her eyes a little wild, “I am, right?”

“That’s up to you, sweetheart. No, just kidding.” He looked back at his disciples, “You heard the lady. I give her permission to use deadly force should one of you decide to challenge her.”

He hadn't expected a positive reaction, and he hoped there wouldn’t be challenges too soon. He planned on training her weaknesses as soon as possible. “Rey, grab your breakfast and accompany me to the _Phoenix_ , we have business to finish.” 

The hour was early and the kids were playing a game of football, exulting in their recovered freedom before the scorching suns chased them back inside again. When they saw the pair they ran to greet them and Ben Solo bent down and hugged them one by one, crying and laughing freely. 

“We’ll find a place for each and everyone of you, I promise,” he told them. Among them, he detected at least two Force-sensitives. They would need special care.

When he walked into the _Phoenix_ , the people there made room for him at the little table. 

Poe Dameron sat beside him, introducing himself, and Ben felt the man’s suspicion as well as his unbound loyalty for the older woman now speaking at the head of the table.

“Half these kids can be returned to their homes, like many we managed to bring to the other institutions who accepted them. Now that the First Order’s leadership has passed hands again,” here, some glanced at the tall dark man sitting conspicuously among them, “there is no reason to believe they will uphold the protection that was offered them by the previous Supreme Leader. Thus, we need not extend the same courtesy.” 

Kylo slumped a bit at that. Everything he had worked for for the past six years was crumbling before him. It was… _disappointing_. 

“There are some that can never go home. No one wants them, or they don’t deserve to have their children back. Luke and I discussed what to do with them, and there is a place here on Tatooine that would do just fine as a temporary shelter. Hutt’s old Palace. It’s abandoned now— according to the people of Mos Eisley, that is.” Now Leia looked straight at her son.

“Abandoned might be an optimistic word, though. Ben, would you take a team and go check it out? Be diplomatic though; if someone’s moved in there, see what kind of people they are and if you can arrange some deal with them. If they’re thugs, clear them out. I’m sending Luke with you.” 

There was a loud gasp, “ _geez_ Leia.” 

Then she resumed, “the rest of you need to prepare for what’s coming next. Dismissed.”

Before every one could leave, Ben looked at Rey and whispered, “here goes, wish me luck.” Louder he said: “Leia, can we have a moment, please?” 

The room hushed. People looked in turn at their General and their General’s wayward son returned. Leia gave Ben a subdued smile, reassuring but modest, beckoning him near. He advanced towards her, dressed in linens in shades of grey, looking as if he’d never been a Warlord or anything but a Jedi this whole time. Only the silver scar slashing his face and a deep haunting that would never leave his eyes betrayed anything. His other scars were hidden. 

Both Rey and Poe moved with him, Rey holding his hand, Poe from battle instinct to protect his leader. 

“Mom, I have an announcement to make.” He tried to keep a straight face but couldn’t. His smile was contagious; soon his mother was smiling, as was Rey, Luke, Larma, even Poe was smiling, though he wasn’t sure why.

“Last night I made my intentions clear to Rey of Jakku here with me and she accepted my propo— 

“Actually… you didn’t actually voice it. I just picked it up from your mind,” the Scavenger teased him. 

Ben’s eye’s snapped to meet hers, “but you, but we… Oh.”

He got down on one knee, and everyone moved back to give the ex-Jedi-killer space to make his proposal to the Jedi-aspirant. 

“I don’t even have a ring or a token for this… sorry. Um,” he took a deep breath, “Rey of Jakku, would you take my hand and help me become a better man? And bear my children, too?” he added in a small voice, and someone giggled behind him, quickly hushed. 

Someone sobbed. Someone else swore and walked out. 

“Yes,” she answered in a proud, bold voice that left no doubt in anyone’s mind as to its conviction.

Rey took Ben Solo’s naked hand and pulled him up, tucking herself into his embrace. 

Her simple, final answer was as filled with threat as it was filled with promise. He had better improve markedly. He gulped at that, but held her close. 

He’d won the Light. 

After a moment, congratulations started pouring on the new couple, approval from Luke and Leia and some of the elders who had known Ben from before helping to ease tensions. 

***

Archex was pacing in the “safe-zone” mapped out for him by the foundlings that had lived there. He was a stowaway on the _Predator_ , one ship on his self-imposed pilgrimage to find as many rebels as he could and let them know there was a future outside the First Order, that its demise was becoming inevitable, and that they should plan for it now. 

On each ship, he had found a few who could help build the momentum they needed to end the Order, and in doing so, end the Galactic war as well. The problem he had now was contacting the Resistance. 

The fleet had been in hyperspace for the better part of two full cycles now. Where they were headed, he was no longer privy to that information, though Telia promised to inform him as soon as she found out. 

She had communicated with him regarding the drone-like stormtroopers and he was more than dismayed at the reach of technology Hux’s son was willing to use to ensure control over his troops. It was inhumane. It was _inhuman_. 

He was also concerned for her personal safety. It was a new emotion for him. 

**

Deep in the bowels of the _Steadfast_ , Finn was learning a new trade: _sabotage_. The Engineering major had agreed to take him on and was showing him the basics as a trade off, so he could disable some systems without also killing everyone operating them. It made him think of Rose, and almost wish she was here with him, to see the electro-mechanical wonders he was witnessing up close, the science that made the conquest of space possible. His task would be to tweak the targeting systems on the surface canons just slightly, making them unusable against friendlies, and potentially dangerous against pursuers. 

More troopers were being “recruited” into the Super-Trooper program; they would go in for a simple adjustment and never come back to their squad. Things had to happen soon.

Dr. Cylkarr was on that task, trying to get a hold of one of the Drone-troopers (like the rebels had started calling them) to find out what was being done to them, but they were notoriously unified, as his own experience had taught him. Privacy was almost non-existent. Only one thing could separate one from the group. Injury. It would also take the unlucky trooper to the med bay. 

Finn got up, grabbed a sonic screwdriver, and made for the mess hall. 

***

Ben Solo looked his team over: Luke, Poe Dameron, Rey, and Ushar; Chewie joined them to make the trip to the Hutt Palace, flying on the _Falcon_. 

Luke and the wookie would pilot, since they knew the coordinates and a discreet landing spot nearby. Ushar was in the cargo bay, rooting through a toolbox to find one to adjust his weapon’s electronics.

That left the Dyad and the best pilot in the Resistance sitting together in the Lounge. 

Poe was looking at Rey, who had picked one of the Jedi texts she had “salvaged” from Ahch-To and was making for the cabin so she could study in peace. He noticed she had not a bruise on her this time. 

Ben noticed his inspection. “As you can see, I haven’t ‘tortured’ her in a while,” he smirked, still buzzing with the joy of having his proposal accepted.

Poe looked back at his old foe, then suddenly asked: “How did she do it? How did she bring you around?”

Ben Solo considered for a moment before he answered: “She asked me to help her save the kids.”

“That’s it? That did it?”

“Well, other things too. Killing Master Snoke… that did a lot. Then I reached the very top of the hierarchy and it put things into perspective. It was… disappointing, to say the least. I could conquer the whole galaxy and still not have what I wanted.”

“And what’s that?”

“Someone to share it with.” He thought again of the loneliness he had found in Rey’s mind; how it had echoed his. How she had come to him out of compassion and understanding.

“And I understood those kids’ suffering, to some extent,” he added.

Poe wondered at that, but from the ex-Warlord’s low tone he felt he should not probe any deeper. Maybe some other time, with the help of a bottle of fine Corellian brandy. 

“I had a migraine for days, you know,” the pilot stated, recalling the interrogation. “Though that could also have been the crash on Jakku.”

“You put up a good fight.”

“Thanks, I think?” He looked back to the passage Rey had disappeared to. “You be careful with Rey, Ben Solo,” Poe suddenly demanded. “I had started to like her. A lot.”

“I will. She was hard to win.”

“Was she? I mean, you have tricks up your sleeve, being a Darksider and all that…”

Ben riled a bit at that - it sounded like an accusation - but found Poe really just wanted to be sure that his friend hadn’t been “seduced to the Dark Side”.

“I’ll tell you what, the first time she kissed me… I couldn’t believe it,” he confided, “I was stunned. Same thing the second time; I was just… blown away. I realized I would do anything for her.”

“ _She_ kissed you?” Poe said, but he let his surprise soften when he thought of everything Ben had done for his Dyad-Half. He _had_ given up everything for her. “Hard to imagine, she’s so young, so tiny.”

“I interrogated her too. You knew that. She didn’t tell anyone? Well, she beat me in my own interrogation room.”

Poe let out a low whistle at that. “She give you that scar too?” The pilot pointed to his own face in a diagonal motion.

“She did. And that’s not the extent of it, see here?” Ben pulled the fabric down to show Poe, “It goes all the way past the collarbone. And she punched through on my other shoulder too.”

“Wow, my worst scar is this one on my forearm, from my fighter getting a hit that sent burning shrapnel flying in the cockpit.” He rolled back his sleeve to show an ugly expanse of gouged and burned skin. “I was lucky I wasn’t in space at the time. It was a battle over that moon in the Titus system. We raided that base a few years ago? Had to hitch a ride back with Snap.”

“Really? That was lucky, I imagine shrapnel in outer space... How is Snap? I haven’t seen him around.” 

“He stayed behind on the base, he’s gotten… bigger.” The men laughed. They could find common ground; the war had made them enemies, but there was no way the First Order could win it, and Ben had come to understand that. 

“Well, congratulations, then.” Poe gave Ben Solo a hard slap on the shoulder. Feeling the ship touchdown on solid ground, he added, “I think we’ve made it to that palace Leia tasked us to check out.”

The ramp came down and Luke stared at the rotund towers for a moment before swearing under his breath and moving forward under the scalding suns.

***

“Ah, man, that’s gotta hurt. Let me help you, we’ll get you to the medbay.” 

The Drone-Trooper sat on the floor, blasted foot held straight out in front of him. He hissed between his teeth, and Finn could tell he was repressing the pain he obviously felt. Luckily, TX-3465 was close by to give Finn a hand. The Drone sergeant stood before them, demanding an explanation.

“I don’t know, it looks like his blaster just went off, I was lucky it wasn’t _my_ foot.” Blood was pooling on the white-tiled floor. “Sergeant, we’ve gotta get this guy to medbay.”

The sergeant hesitated — _hesitated_ — before giving them leave to do so. 

Finn and Tex hurried, carrying the wounded Drone-trooper between their clasped arms like a chair. “What’s your name, trooper?” Tex asked.

“SX-6888.” The drone said nothing more. He stopped hissing after a moment. He seemed to just wait. 

“How long have you been with your squad?”

“That is classified information.”

“Classified info— “ Tex and Finn looked at each other. 

“Listen, I am FN-8721,” Finn hoped to establish some kind of trust with the drone, but this one was even “hollower” than the ones he’d met before.

“FN-8721. You failed the program. How are you still alive,” SX-6888 stated dispassionately. 

“I was there by mistake, obviously. I was transferred to another troop.”

“That is irregular. You should have been reprogrammed and returned.”

Tex suddenly asked him: “If the re-programing doesn’t work, what happens?”

“The programming always works”

The turbolift door slid open and medics known to Finn and Tex hurriedly greeted them with a stretcher and then promptly sedated and carried the Super-Trooper to Dr. Cylkarr.

*

“Look here, there’s something at the front of his brain.” Indah was examining the scan image before her. It’s shaped like a star... it’s got electronics.”

“That’s it. That’s the droid interface,” replied Tridang from the _Incinerator_.“

“How do we remove it?” Hegert Giosk was the third doctor involved in the conversation. 

“I get the feeling it will kill the patient to do so.”

“He’s pretty much dead already, if you ask me.”

“Dr. Cylkarr,” a nurse interrupted, “the trooper’s captain is here to recuperate him. He’s very insistent.”

“Right. I’ll be right there.” She looked at her friends from the other ships, “here’s the data I have in any case, see if you can find out more.” 

“Just this should be enough to tip things over, I think.” 

“I agree,” nodded Giosk. 

Indah shut off comms and exited her office to meet with the Officer. 

“Doctor, the trooper was sent to you by mistake,” the Drone Captain explained. He was a thick man, obviously not a drone himself.

“He was injured, and this is MedBay. I don’t see the mistake.” 

“The Experimental troopers have their own doctor to attend them.”

“I am the Chief Medical Examiner on this ship. Who are you talking about? Which doctor ?”

“Pardon me, I mean a medical droid.” 

“Well, he’s here now. He’ll be out in a day. You can fill in the datawork.” 

“No need for that, I’m taking him with me.” 

“Captain, he’s got his foot in a bacta-wrap that had to be changed every hour. Where do you think you're taking him?” 

“That’s none of your business, Doctor.” 

For a moment, Indah thought to argue with the captain but held back and relented instead. She technically out-ranked him, but this man was a trained killer. She was a healer. So she pressured him the only way she knew she could: with datawork. 

“You _will_ fill in the forms, Captain Medlin, before you take him away. If not I will report you to your superior.”

The heavy man stiffened, but accepted the datapad she handed to him. 

**

Archex was on board the _Dominatrix_ when his earpiece beeped. It was Telia, who relayed the doctors’ find to him. He sighed with relief at her voice but groaned at the news: the new tech was just as damnable as they had suspected. He thanked her and turned to his audience:

“They’re implanting kriffing _droids_ in the troopers’ brains.” 

“Are you sure? I thought that was impossible.” Only five people were in the conduit with him. The _Dominatrix_ had rewarded its most ruthless officers for years. Resentment was present, but deeply hidden. The one who spoke was still astonished by the possibility of a rebellion. 

“Three doctors looked at the scan. And it confirms what Hux told San’Luxida.” He would stop by the _Incinerator_ to see her before going back to the _Absolution_. 

A droid tech spoke up. She was shy, but smart, and it dawned on her she could analyse the hardware if she could get her hands on a device. “We have a squad of these troops on board. We can capture one ourselves and extract the device to analyse it.”

“The Doctors think that will kill the patient.”

“The Doctors swear to save every life. We techs and engineers don’t. We’re the ones that build the weapons, right?” The tech beside her nodded. “Get us one of those troopers, we’ll extract the… bug? And analyse it. Archex, we’ll try to spare the man’s life, but if we can’t… it’s better the troops know how cursed this tech is.”

**

Supreme Leader Hux looked at the fragment of holo before him. That was the _Falcon_ , detaching itself from the _Colossus’_ command tower and flying off. He felt a shiver start to run down his spine, suppressed it before the others saw it. 

“This changes nothing. At worse, it tells the galaxy Kylo Ren eloped with his girlfriend.”

“If that’s the worst of it, count yourself lucky,” General Pryde commented, “I highly doubt he’ll leave it at that.”

“Kylo Ren hated command. Without Snoke he was directionless.” Hux wondered again if he might have been able to command the Ren and his Knights.

“That was the _Millennium Falcon_ that picked him up. He’s with the Resistance.”

“So he went back to his mother. Shameful.” _The Knights of Ren_ , Hux wondered “I can’t imagine the Knights following him there. Any word from them? Don’t they technically belong to the Supreme Leader?” 

“They follow strength, they’ll never follow you.” That was Admiral Gniss, who caught himself and added: “I mean strength in the _Force_ , Sir. Kylo killed two and the rest stayed loyal to him, remember.” 

“You don’t think they followed him to join up with Luke Skywalker, do you? That’s ludicrous!”

“As ludicrous as that may sound, Sir, it’s a possibility we have to prepare for. Meanwhile,” Pryde reminded them, “there’s still the matter of the Black Sun syndicate blackmailing us.”

“We already agreed on the propaganda we will use to counter their blackmail. Pay them for their information on Kylo Ren. We will put a bounty on his head. There’s already one for each member of the Resistance.”

“Half the bounty-hunters are part of one crime syndicate or another, Sir. They might not work with us.”

Hux suddenly turned away to look at the stars beyond the viewport. So many bugs and vermin to crush, how had Snoke managed to hold everything together for so many years? They had destroyed the Republic, only to deal with the shadow governments of the crime syndicates. 

***

They found a couple of families squatting in one of the sentry towers. As he was tasked, Ben Solo stepped forward to talk with them about accommodating the twenty or so refugees they had rescued. Luke and Poe observed him, observed the elders’ reaction to him. Then-Senator Leia Organa had dragged her son with her occasionally on diplomatic missions, and some of that experience was showing now; the people, not recognizing the First Order Warlord without his Ren ‘apparatus’, was calm and diplomatic, and they soon relaxed and appeared to trust him. 

_What a terrible corruption he suffered,_ thought Luke, thinking of the terror he had felt at discovering Snoke’s taint on his nephew. He wondered what long-term effects might manifest over the next years, his apparent recovery due mostly to the elation of finding love. What would happen when the passion wore off?

As Ben spoke with them, he realized the six adults could be employed to take care of the children, fixing two problems at once: lodging and caring. 

“But we can’t all fit in here, Sir,” a tall woman protested, “You’ll have to clear out the nest first.”

“The nest of what?” Luke asked, coming closer, trying to think of all the dangerous wildlife that could have taken up residence in the ancient towers.

“Woodoos. A good number of them, too.”

“Swell.” 

*

“The place stinks.” 

Jabba’s Palace had been a B’omarr monastery for centuries before the Hutt had taken residence in it. The team — Ushar having flown out to get the rest of the Knights — walked down the stairs from the unguarded portcullis carefully, Poe and Chewie brandishing their blasters, the Force-users brandishing motes of Force-Light and scanning for lifeforms; finding plenty of vermin, but no humanoids or sentients. In the main throne room, dusty clutter piled with detritus here and there. The Rancor pit trap doors hung down, one barely holding by a broken hinge. 

“You remember the stories, Ben?” Luke asked his nephew. The rescue had been told at every anniversary of the event for years. 

“Yeah. Should have come here years ago. Just to see the place.” 

Chewie gave a loud growl, he had barely agreed to “play the captured bounty” for Leia. 

“Yeah, she took a big risk, but you know Skywalkers, we’re romantics,” Luke replied, and Ben Solo almost laughed, “Besides, you did go with her to save Han.”

Now Chewie gave a softer growl.

“You’re welcome again, Chewie. But it’s not like I had a choice with all three of you trapped here.”

Ben stilled; Rey took his hand. “You killed Snoke,” she reminded him. 

“Only because you were there,” he replied thickly.

“See, a romantic,” she replied and he squeezed her hand in answer.

Poe was looking down into the pit, “that rancor is long dead, but we have to clear out whatever else might be living here.”

“And see if any of the environmental-control equipment is still usable,” added Rey. 

They walked back up to inspect the towers, where some of the equipment was. The place was huge, built to last for centuries, and abandoned as if cursed. They walked across some kind of amphitheatre and their voices echoed hollowly within the space. 

“Looks like the monks finally died out,” commented Luke. “They were a crazy lot anyway.”

“All religions make people crazy, if you ask me,” growled Rey. 

“ _Touché_ , but people need something to believe in, Rey, some set of rules.” Luke countered.

“There are laws for that. You don’t need to add brainwashing too.” As a child, Rey had listened to the myths and prayers that the slaves told each other. She knew the native lore of Jakku, but visitors and trafficked slaves brought their own histories with them. And their own rituals; some of them gruesome. 

“Religions exist to control people's minds and keep them under some powerful leader’s rule. They serve to justify thefts and massacres, when the economy isn’t enough,” Rey’s voice picked up in amplitude while she spoke, prompting the others to hush and hear her out. “Some tribe leaders on Jakku had weeks of rations piled up, but would sell some of the kids to get more, saying they had read some augury or other magic that told them to do so.” 

She turned to Luke: “What did you call it? Hubris? That’s when you think you’re the only one that’s right?” Luke had stopped walking now, staring at her like he was still the Master and Rey was reciting a lesson. He nodded at her question. She turned to Ben to indicate him before turning to Luke again. “I remember some of the first times we spoke, Kylo Ren and I: he was still full of the beliefs that Snoke had put in his mind. Some of them were nothing more than the opposite of what _you_ had taught him.”

“Rey…” Ben said softly, “it’s alright, we’re past that now. I can see clearly now.” 

“Can you? Because with the kind of power you have, that _we_ have, we could start our own religion, and I don’t want that. I just want to end one war, so you and I can have peace. For us.” 

“But, the responsibility, sweetheart, we have a responsibili-”

“Screw that.” She marched to the exit at the far end of the room, Poe and Chewie picking up the pace to keep up with her.

“What was that all about?” asked Ben.

“Have you started training her?” Luke scratched his chin. “I think it’s time you start.”

“I- we never seem to stop long enough for actual training, uncle. And you want _me_ to do it?”

“I can still do the Light, obviously. Can you control your Dark side or not?” Luke looked Ben Solo square in the eyes. 

Ben straightened to meet the challenge, and his old Master seemed very small and frail before him. He thought before he answered: “I’ve gotten better at it, yeah. It still gets away from me sometimes, when I’m pushed.” As he spoke, Ben felt he _was_ more in control, more confident. And he felt another thing: choice. “Luke, a lot of the abilities are practically the same… I can choose which side of the Force to work them from.” 

Now it was Luke’s turn to straighten: “Good. You’re right about the responsibility, son. It does come with the power.” His voice softened and he added, “she just needs a break before she accepts it. You too, I think ?”

“Yeah, but I think I’ll start anyway. Just slowly.”

The two men walked off to catch up with the others. 

*

A strong animalistic musk warned them they had found the nest of dwellers they were looking for. A few fragrant piles of feces confirmed the species. In the smaller tower, the ground-level gate had been blown and the flightless bird-like animals had moved in. The relative coolness of the dark cavern-like area was an ideal refuge and Luke shared his relief that the place hadn’t become occupied by a Krayt dragon instead. 

Outside in the glaring sun, the Knights could just make them out in the dimness of the room they occupied: five adults and a few fledglings only three of which were visible, but it was certain they were more. 

The animals were huge. An average three galactic-standard meters in height, they had egg-shaped sparsely-feathered bodies on big stubby legs, to support their nearly one-ton weight. A brightly colored face of metallic blue and blood-red crests contrasted with an otherwise dull-brown body. Ridiculous vestigial wings gave them a comical look, but one look at the often blood-encrusted beak made the unwary traveller who stumbled across them soon back away in terror. These carnivores bullied whole packs of predators out of their prey. Their skin was thick enough to be considered armor-plating, and almost impervious to blaster bolts.

“I hear they’re delicious, the young and the eggs, anyway,” commented Rey, and the men looked at her in surprise. “What? You don’t think I survived just from portions on Jakku, do you? We ate anything that didn’t get away fast enough.”

The Knights with them, Ben turned to Luke and Poe and Chewie. “Why don’t you let us handle this job. I have to ‘feed the pack’ regularly, or they get out of hand.” 

Luke turned to the other two. “He’s right. They’re vicious. We can go wait it out with the people we found.”

“Rey stays with me, though.” Ben added. 

Poe made to protest — no reason to get her hands dirty when the Ren could handle the killing, but Luke pat Poe’s arm to stop him. It was already part of her nature. 

*

Cardo was impatient to get into the game. He walked in wielding his arm-cannon and blasted the nearest one into shredded meat. 

All hell broke loose. 

The huge birds were feathered cannonballs and immediately rushed to their fallen comrades' defense, bowling into Cardo and he was projected far outside the tower. Kuruk ran to him, swearing in a few languages. Rey joined them.

“Damn fool, we have to draw them out. Did you think to blow the whole tower up?” she admonished the big knight. “Here let me check the damage.” Kuruk helped her peel the heavy armor off and then she gasped at the damage. Cardo’s sternum had been crushed in. “Ben!” she cried, “I won’t be able to do this alone!”

Ben swore but ran over to his knight. Rey already had her hands on him, sensing every rib, panic rising as she felt the man’s right lung start to fill with blood. 

He knelt beside Rey, but caught movement from the corner of his eyes, “Trudgen, Ushar! Don’t let them rush out and trample us!” 

Two of the giant birds came out, one splattered with the guts of the hapless female that had been blasted by Cardo; it shrieked and flapped its useless wings and the two birds lowered their heads and sped towards the little group gathered around the killer. 

Trudgen managed to swipe at one as it barreled past him, his vibrocleaver biting deep into its leg, sending it stumbling down only a few paces away. Ushar smashed his warclub against the breast of the other, deviating it from its course and gaining its attention. 

“Ben, I’m going to concentrate on quickly repositioning the ribs, but you have to keep the blood out of the lungs while I do that, before I can speed up the healing process,” Rey instructed him, and the bloodlust he had been working up suddenly needed urgent redirecting to the Light. 

He closed his eyes and sensed inside Cardo, and it felt like drowning, panic threatening to wash over him. He opened his eyes and there was Kuruk, eyes wide and shiny and he thought of the depth of feeling these two must share, for Kuruk to be on the verge of tears. “Go kill those birds, Kuruk Ren, and we’ll eat them tonight.” And he turned back to his job. 

For it was his job. He had barely won the title of Master — through treachery — and had confirmed it by beating down challenges again and again over the years; being a fully trained Force-wielder giving him his only advantage. 

He had passed the final test only a few months ago — when he had killed his father — and the Knights had celebrated his triumph for two days while he floated in a bacta tank in the infirmary. When he’d come out, he’d hidden his grief under his mask while they clapped him on the back and congratulated him over and over again. 

He was their Master. He had killed two of them. Now he had to keep Cardo alive, if only for Kuruk’s sake. Kuruk who had killed his Jedi friend Ashla to follow him into the Knights of Ren. 

“Ben! Focus!”

He snapped back to the task at hand: keeping air pressure inside the lungs, moving and exchanging it for oxygen supply, and probing further inside the lungs and outside to the lining; he found the punctures where two ribs had pierced through. 

Behind him, he could hear the angry squalls of the Woodoo adults and the terrified squeals of the chicks. His men were shouting as well, Kuruk howling with rage, and sand sprayed near them but he kept his mind on saving this one man in front of him. 

“Oh great, Ben! You did half the work already, wow!” Rey praised him, and it was the best praise he had ever heard in his life. 

He felt more than saw Luke land beside him, putting his hands on his ex-enemy’s chest, probing in turn and he felt Luke’s signature work beside his, gently finding spots that had not been reached yet. 

* _Rey. Go._ * Ben told his dyad-half, and she got up to kill the last bird. 

Rey of Jakku lifted the one-ton animal clear off its feet. Then she applied Force and wrenched its head around, snapping its neck. The thing fell back to the ground with a thud everyone felt. 

Only a few chicks were still alive. They could be penned in and sold live at the market in Mos Eisley. There were half a dozen unbroken eggs as well. 

Luke and Ben, exhausted, remained half-sat, half-kneeling beside a saved but comatose Cardo. 

Ushar was helping Rey heal Trudgen, who had a nasty gash on his buttock from where one of the birds had managed to clip him with a wicked spur. 

The tribe-like families they had met came down carrying wicker baskets and containers, thanked the team, and picked up what meat and eggs they could carry and preserve, or bring to the market. 

Chewie landed the _Falcon_ near the now cleared-out tower, and brought out refrigerated crates. Kuruk picked up and carried one of the bird's sweetmeats, to Chewie’s appreciative grin. 

Poe looked at the carnage. Blood soaked into the sand, but little would be left unused: almost every part of the animals would be either eaten or salvaged and used as weapons or leather for armor.

Rey stood out, her tunic pristine but her hands covered in Knight’s blood; as he looked her over, she wiped them over her chest and tummy, leaving two bloody handprints over her breasts. He looked away. 

Ben looked up sharply. Her call was unmistakable. He stood on shaky legs and whispered an apology to Luke, before following Rey into the dark tower. 

Poe came to stand beside Luke. 

“‘ _Passion gives me strength_ ’,” recited Luke. 

“What’s that?”

“Nothing. Let’s finish cleaning up here and call the others in to join us,” the old Jedi Master said, “Let those two alone.”

“She scares me, sometimes,” Poe suddenly confided. 

“Yeah? Good.”


	29. Light and Dark

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Why did you do it?” Larma suddenly asked, “Why did you seize power?”

At first Ben couldn’t see her in the dank vestibule of the second tower, but he could _sense_ her, and her Force signature was a dark flame burning in front of him. He saw her disappear up a flight of stairs and followed her. 

She kept just out of his sight, and as he stepped in the sand-colored corridor that circled around the tower, the sunlight that poured in illuminated the pale floor and something there caught his eye: it was one of her armbands, discarded for him to find. Further there was the second one; he picked it up. Her long scarf was next. He saw her then, ahead just before the curb and she reached for the V of her tunic and pulled at it, baring a rose-colored nipple.

She pinched it, hard, and released it, letting it wink at him. He chased after her, of course. 

**

When the Dyad came out, most of the ships were there, and there were a few campfires lit where people were gathered, eating roasted Woodoo meat. 

Luke was telling the ‘Story of Jabba the Hutt’s Biggest Mistake’ for the kids, making a great show of it, Poe standing in as Han Solo, after Leia and Chewie had started the story before the Jedi Returned to save them. A touching tribute was made for Lando Calrissian, who had passed five years ago. 

The _Night Buzzard_ was there, and Ben, carrying a blissed-out Rey, made a bee-line for it. 

Inside Ben found Trudgen with a girl on his knees, rubbing her between her legs while he fed her fresh fruit with his other hand. 

“Trudgen Ren, how old is this girl? How old are you?” he asked her directly, realizing it was the more respectful way to assess the situation. 

“Old enough,” she replied defiantly. 

Ben was in a conundrum. The Master had disappeared for a couple of hours, and the disciples had fallen back into old habits. 

“ _Take what is offered_ ,” Trudgen reminded him, eyeing Rey. The Knight could obviously see the marks and bruises on Rey's arms, and the cloth wrapped around her legs implied her nakedness underneath.

“You could have gone to town,” Ben admonished him. “We are guests of the Resistance.”

“Are we? Seems like we did all the work.” He pressed the girl’s folds, making her gasp. 

He was tired, and Rey was getting heavy in his arms, but he had to figure out a way to deal with the situation he was faced with now. 

“Where are the others?” 

“Cardo’s in a bacta suit on the _Phoenix,_ Kuruk’s with him. Ushar is outside, drinking and eating. Maybe he’ll find a girl with pent up anger like yours.” 

Ben suddenly blushed. _He_ was covered in bruises as well. He steeled himself. 

“Don’t hurt her, Trudgen, can you at least do that? I don’t mean ‘don’t leave marks’, I mean _don’t hurt her_.”

The burly Knight held his gaze for a moment before relenting: “All right, I won’t. I won’t keep her from making noises though,” he smirked, and Ben had to contend himself with that. 

Ben went to the Master cabin and lay a now-sleeping Rey in his berth. If he wanted both sides of the Force, he would have to constantly balance between them, between healing and killing. 

As he was preparing for bed, he heard Ushar’s heavy step come in and Trudgen ask him:

“Didn’t find anyone?”

“Yeah, but she was too small. Not strong enough for me.” 

“Boss says you can go to town, find an ‘adult’. Doesn’t want us spooking our ‘hosts’.”

“Right?” 

“This one’s willing enough.” There was the sound of a chair being pushed back. “Come on honey, let’s make you meowl like a manka cat, I bet you haven’t been properly pet in a while.” 

*

In the morning, Ben heard Rey and the girl quietly speaking in the _Buzzard’s_ lounge.

“How long?”

“Five years? I’m not sure, I got caught in 30 ABY.”

“Five years on the _Colossus_? Kept in a closet?”

“On the ship? Oh no, only a few months, and I wasn’t kept in a closet. That sounds terrible. No, five years in a brothel. Captain Jellen bought me.”

“How old are you?” Rey was trying to figure out how young she’d been when she’d started. 

“Old enough. How old are you?” 

“I was born in ‘15.”

Ben felt a flash of shame. Rey was ten years his junior; the two young women were probably — hopefully — the same age. 

“This place will offer education. You will be supported until you have a trade.”

“I already have a trade.”

“Sena, I mean one you can work at for a long time. One that doesn’t hurt as much.”

“He didn’t hurt me, if that’s what you’re asking.”

Rey left a stretch of silence, eating her breakfast and drinking her caf. 

After a while the girl said: “But they’re not always careful. I’ll check out what you offer.”

He walked in, wondering what the girl thought of the bruises on the woman counseling her, and saw not a mark on Rey. She had healed them. 

By the time he came back from the fresher, the girl had left and Rey was talking with Ushar. 

Ushar, who laughed at him upon seeing his black and blue throat, while Rey smirked. 

“Shut up, both of you.”

*

“What happened to you?”

“Rey.”

“Why don’t you heal that?”

“I figure no one will bother her if she’s wild enough to do _that_.”

“Damn, Solo, don’t look so _proud_.”

***

“Supreme Leader, one of the Dro— I mean, _Enhanced_ troopers has been found dead.”

“Not a suicide, I hope? We haven’t had one in months” A suicide would mean the program still had important flaws, and Hux was tired of waiting. The enhanced troopers cost much more than the ordinary ones; they _had_ to last longer than a couple years. “Did you recuperate the ‘chip’?“. At least the droid implants could be wiped and recycled. 

“We tried Sir, but his head was crushed in one of the ventral cannon’s gears.” The aide was properly horrified by the news he was delivering. It was a recurrent nightmare of his: to be crushed alive in some monstrous machine’s mechanical gears. 

“Ugh, that’s horrendous!” And it did sound like suicide. Unless it was murder. 

*

“So that’s the thing, huh? That’s the bug?” muttered Finn.

The droid interface was a star shaped flattened disk about the size of a thumbnail. 

“Why do you keep it in a jar?” he asked. The crypto-team’s holo-comm was still holding up. The image was crisp, and all the rebellion cells were able to attend. Dr. Purvhea taped the glass lightly with a glass rod. 

The tiny droid inside immediately jumped up on spider-like legs and began running around frantically inside its container. The sound of metal scrabbling against glass was as clear as the tiny lights flashing on its body. Everyone watching immediately jerked away or gasped in shocked horror. Someone retched.

“Oh my _Force_! That’s what they’re putting inside our brains?” The room erupted in a mix of angry swears and near-panicked cries. Gradually, the angry swears took over... then faded into resolved planning. 

“What’s the Ratio now?” demanded Archex. 

Cell Leaders spoke in turn. Finn made a quick calculation before concluding:

“I’d say about fifty-fifty now. With this evidence, we’ll be over the top for sure.” 

“We can act as soon as we come out of hyperspace,” decided Archex. “If that’s alright with you, Telia?”

“Contact the Resistance First. We should come out over Coruscant at the end of the next cycle.”

“Coruscant. Of course. One of the Crown Jewels of the galaxy.”

The ruthless tech who had extracted the Drone-trooper bug proposed, “we can jettison a distress beacon, Sir, with both our destination and a datasheet on that ‘interface’.” Telia nodded, knowing the team would be discreet. 

“Get on that immediately, we’ll send one out every parsec until destination. 

**

“Supreme Leader, there’s been more talk against the Enhanced Trooper Program among the men. It’s becoming a concern. The squad captains say they’re having serious difficulties controlling their troops...”

“Supreme Leader, we’ve managed to cut deals with only a handful of bounty-hunters. Our other eyes-and-ears networks are not cooperating with us at all, and charging us ridiculous amounts…”

“Supreme Leader, we’ve depleted the mines on…”

Armitage Hux rubbed his jaw where the sore he had developed over the last few days was aching, sending a sharp jab of pain through his head. 

The annexation of Coruscant, the next logical step in the First Order’s Master Plan, would set things straight with the rest of the Galaxy. The riches of Coruscant would help balance the books for at least a year, and the system’s industrial capacity would compensate for the loss of the Supremacy. 

The propaganda sent out over the last few days, meant to reassure their few allies and potential new ones as well, seemed to be working; the Order had maintained an allure of righteousness. It had been a struggle to find the right words and tone but Captain San’Luxida had helped shape it. 

Menkin had caused real damage with that deal he’d cut, and their own fake deal had been a gamble he was not likely to play again. Still, not having bounty hunters on the lookout for the Resistance and Kylo Ren in particular was like that sore in his mouth, a furtive, stabbing pain. 

Speaking of which, it was time he went to see the Medical Officer. 

*

“Hmmm.” 

She reached for a long swab and brushed it against the sore, causing the red-headed Supreme Leader to shift in his seat and groan “Oow.”

Indah sat back and let the man relax while she dropped the swap into the chem-analysis machine on her desk. She punched a few keys on its base, frowning as she read from the little display. 

“Uh-hmmm.”

“So, Doctor Cylkarr, can you treat it quickly? It’s very distracting.”

“One moment, Supreme Leader, the machine hasn’t finished its analysis. Ah.” She looked at the result, her face suddenly changing to surprise before growing serious, reproachful, even. 

“What- is something wrong, doctor?”

“Pale-faced people like you are notoriously known for having sensitive skin. Maybe your body is simply reacting to the unusual stress you’re dealing with now by becoming intolerant of some chemicals. It could be your soap, your hair cosmetics, things you touch on a daily basis. The polish for your boots, for example. You polish them yourself, yes?”

“Of course! I’ve always polished my boots myself, a good soldier is _self-reliant_. Besides, no one else can bring out the mirror shine like I can.” Hux had been a proud soldier, a proud junior officer and a proud General, impeccable in his appearance and his stance. 

“I would cut back on chemicals for a while if I were you, Sir. If there’s no improvement in the next few days, we will have to consider the possibility of…” she hesitated before continuing. “Let me see your hands… ah, I can see you have them manicured, but you still nibble at your index knuckle. You have to stop that. That could be how the chemical gets into your system.”

“But I wear gloves!” Hux protested, expensive, thick but soft black gloves custom made to fit his long-fingered hands. 

“Throw them out. Better yet, change them everyday.” As she spoke, Indah’s face took on an air of certainty.

“Sir, you should have your quarters inspected. A man in your position has many enemies,” Indah barely hesitated before adding, “Someone may be trying to poison you.”

“ _Poison_ !? But how? I have my food and drink checked regularly.” He’d taken on the “official” Supreme Leader chef, a rare gem that had outlasted his predecessors by _years_. 

“Poison can be administered not just by food or drink... everything you touch could be laced with trace amounts that would be almost undetectable but would accumulate over time.”

*

Once the Supreme Leader had walked out, Dr Indah Cylkarr sat heavily onto the examination table he had just vacated. Surprisingly, she had found no poison in his body. But now she had planted some in his _mind_. 

*

On the Bridge, Armitage Hux was quiet. He looked around at his officers and techs around him, wondering which one would be brazen enough to attempt on his life. It would be ironic he should attain the title of Supreme Leader, only to die days later, poisoned like his father. 

*

“Coruscant. That’s where they’re headed.” The tall dark warrior said after a moment’s brooding.

“That’s rather premature of them, isn’t it? In their current state?” General Organa didn’t comment, but she heard the distinct way her son had said “they”. It wasn’t his army anymore. He wasn’t trying to trick them into fighting to reclaim his throne, like some had hissed at first. Ben was home. 

“It is, but Coruscant isn’t as well defended as it was before the Capital was moved to the Hosnian system, and with the Republic destroyed…” He paused at that. He still woke at night to the sound — to the _feeling_ — of billions of lives suddenly extinguished, wondering if he could have prevented it. With Rey there he suffered fewer nightmares, but sometimes it seemed her own made up for it. “It was always on the board. My guess is that we would have hit it next had it not been for… everything that happened.” He looked at Rey beside him. _Rey_ had happened. “Or probably made for Luke’s hideout first. Snoke hated Luke. He was _crazy_ with hate. He made everyone around him crazy with it too.” He wondered briefly what kept Hux and Pryde going now that the DarkSide Master was gone. 

“What else can you tell us?” Larma D'Acy had a sharp intellect. She’d picked up on Ben’s lapse in using “we” again, but she knew good intel when she could get it. 

“The last Dreadnought was still under extensive repair a week ago, but it could make the jump if it was called in. It would be vulnerable, though.”

Ben had shared what information he knew as well as he could. He had spent only weeks as Supreme Leader, most of that time either pursuing Rey on board his ship, or helping her with the foundlings. As Snoke’s pet project, he and his Ren had left a trail of destruction, but it had all been in the hunt for Jedi and Jedi-sympathisants. How many old men and women had he killed? How many orphans had he created? Of the rest of the First Order operations, he had remained blithely ignorant. 

“Why did you do it?” Larma suddenly asked, “Why did you seize power?”

They all stared at him. Fighters, technicians. Family members. “I didn’t know where else to go. I wanted to keep Rey with me, and she’d asked me to spare the fleet. So I did. Turns out I wasn’t cut out for the job.”

Rey stared at him wide-eyed, that last bit was as much an admission of his deepest fears as anyone was likely to hear from him. She took his hand, and he squeezed it in return. 

Poe Dameron nodded, then added: “You have other qualities we can use. We’re starting to see some of them.” Then loudly, he added: “some people have been complaining we haven't imprisoned and tried you for your crimes yet. Since they were single-mindedly against the Jedi, Luke will be the judge of that. For now, it’s my understanding that you are working with us to defeat the First Order. We can see how things balance out in the end.” 

The meeting was dismissed and Ben was tasked with finally interviewing the Storm-troopers Bonn had brought over from the battle for the _Colossus_. 

With Luke observing, he discovered that the ones Bonn had taken _to_ the rogue ship had all _volunteered_ to rescue him — as part of the Dyad — and that was another proof his good work was worth doing. Of the few that had been _rescued_ from the Colossus most were angry and resentful, but it was more with the First Order than with himself. Two seemed to have no strong loyalties to any side. They had used and abused the slaves kept on board the ship multiple times, though. Ben shared that information with Bonn and Leia. They could be tried and sentenced, if only to bring some closure to the girls abused. 

It was uncertain what to do with the loyal stormtroopers, though. Set them free? Accept them in the Resistance, like Finn?

“Give them a choice ?” prompted Luke. 

**

Meanwhile Rey and Rose had decided to go to Mos Eisley to shop for parts for the monastery equipment they thought they could still save. Most of the condensation towers and water or air pumps really needed cleaning out and the kids were put to work doing just that. The place being so big, a smaller area was delimited, and the ressources concentrated to service it, so that some parts could be salvaged from some appliances to be recycled in chosen equipment. They were still missing some important components, though.

“I hope we get news today,” said Rose quietly as they flew to the town. 

Rey had been distracting herself with Ben since finding him again and had almost forgotten about Finn and the First Order still out there, causing havoc. She was tempted to just steal a ship with her lover and run away. 

“If the Order is en route for Coruscant, someone will let us know where they are. I’m sure there will be plenty of messages for us when the Order comes out of Hyperspace.”

“It’s the craziest thing, Finn getting stuck on board the fleet like that, when he was right there with you.” It wasn’t quite a reproach, but Rey felt a little guilty nonetheless.

“Luke said it was his decision, that he felt it was right he go back to find troopers like him and get them out of there.” 

“He’s come a long way since I first met him, Rose admitted. “From deserter to rescuer.”

“Aye” agreed the Scavenger, who had been thinking of deserting moments ago. “We’ll be ready to help him and whomever he convinces to join us.”

They landed in one of the many landing pads and proceeded to find parts shops, recycled if possible, or new if not. 

Rey was unused to such a bustle of people, and soon she started developing a migraine, a reaction she was beginning to understand would become her new normal since her coming into her powers. The people surrounding her were not in the middle of battle, so it was a range of emotions that were easier to bear, but there were so many, of so many kinds, with their Force-signatures bright and vivid — like for those of children — or dull but nonetheless complex, for the adults. She couldn’t read their thoughts — that took deliberate effort — but it was a constant noise she hoped she would get used to soon. 

Focusing on the conversation Rose was fueling to keep her own mind busy did help, and they were rebuilding the Monastery into a Palace much more extravagant then they could ever afford, laughing as they challenged themselves to invent outlandish needs and tech to match it. 

They were mostly through their list, their almost full lift-wagon floating low behind them, when they decided to take a break. 

While they were chewing sticks of grilled meat bought at a street vendor, they saw a tall, dark, and handsome man march towards them from the far end of Corporations Road, people stepping aside to let him through. Rose groaned audibly while Rey gulped down her half-chewed bite of spicy meat. Even with a pale grey hood hiding his features, there was no mistaking the identity of the Warlord making his way hurriedly to find them. 

“Look at him, he’s almost running towards you.” Rose commented, surprised at such eagerness from the usually stolid man. 

“Yeah, I think something’s come up,” she replied, putting her hand up so he could see her, “Good news, I hope.”

Once he caught sight of her, Ben relaxed visibly and met them under the vendor’s awning: “Someone found a beacon out near the junction of the Hydian way and the Nanth’ri route. It was encrypted with — guess what — my own key, so that means Archex is alive and involved,” he told them enthusiastically, “so I came to tell you. If you’re done here?”

“We got most everything,” reported Rose, before blurting, “any news from Finn?”

“Not yet, they were still deciphering the message when I left to find you.” 

They hurriedly untied the baggage train from a post and the trio made for the transport they had taken to town. Once everything was loaded, Ben started walking back.

Rey stopped him. “How did you come?”

“I took a speeder, everyone’s getting the ships fuelled and ready.”

“Can I come with you?” 

The couple both looked at Rose. It was such a comical sight, like they were asking permission, that the short tech laughed and gave her assent. 

It was a black and silver speeder, sleek and sharp, and it was obvious the single seat would barely fit both. “That’s a nice speeder. From the _Buzzard_?” 

Ben nodded. ”We have four, attached in compartments on the outside of the ship, beneath the shielding.”

“Can't carry much on them.” 

“No, just us and weapons, usually. You want to pilot? I have to warn you, it’s very responsive.” 

“Tempting, but I’d rather just hang on to you, if that’s ok.”

They both donned dust-goggles and Rey climbed behind her Dyad-half and wrapped her arms about him. 

As they sped away from the busy town, she let her mind wander near his, picking up on his feelings. 

Ben was _happy_. She had been ready to leave it all behind, the Jedi, the First Order, Luke, even Leia, just to be with this big beautiful man she had worked hard to understand and bring out of his shell. She had risked her life for him, had killed for him. Now that she had him, she didn’t want to risk losing him in some deadly confrontation anymore, or share him with her new friends, or even with his family. 

The passion that ran through her veins when they were alone burned dark and deep and violent, and she welcomed the pain as well as the pleasure. The possession of his body, the gift of hers were flames that burned away the creeping memories of the eyes she had shut. Healing was a gift of herself to strangers, but feeling his passion was her reward. 

She squeezed herself against him and he pat her arm briefly, and she felt his exhilaration at flying the speed-bike with his woman at his back, and his family up ahead, clear tasks and goals before him. Tasks that made him feel good about himself. The wind whipped around them and Rey realized that Ben needed the attention, the praise, and the atonement offered to him by the Resistance, and would be with them as long as they needed him. Her glasses fogged up and she let the tears fall. 

_*Is everything alright?*_ he suddenly asked her, and she felt the speeder slow and swerve uncertainly.

 _*It’s so violent, Ben... what I feel.*_ It frightened her. It frightened the people _around_ her.

 _*I love you too,*_ was the simple answer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story is now bigger than my TROS-alt, when I really thought it would be just "2 weeks trapped on the same boat."
> 
> So many ways to tell this story. I can't believe "they" chose one of the worst ones.


	30. On the importance of good communications

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She was treading dangerous waters, and her loyal crew with her, who looked at her with frustration clear on their faces, forced to guess at what she needed them to do. She delivered her orders and information as neutrally as she could, and hoped they knew her well enough to interpret which orders were real, and which ones for show.

“It’s Coruscant, you were right,” Colonel Dameron told Ben Solo.

The Resistance leaders stood before the holo-console in the  _ Phoenix  _ replaying the message a second time for the late-comers and to confirm what they could hardly believe. 

“The Drone-tech they developed, you had no idea about it?” Commander Connix asked him, suspicion clear in her voice.

Ben picked up on her tone. He would be suspicious to most for years yet. “Hux was always developing some tech or another.” He answered coolly, “the active-tracking was another one of his projects. No, I didn’t know he’d gone that far, though I suspect when I goaded him about his troops being ‘incapable and skilled at high treason’, it must have pushed him to research it.” 

Just then Finn’s face appeared above the console, eyes bright and mouth in a crooked smile; “I told them the Resistance would support a rebellion, if that’s alright with you. It really roused them, but confirmation would be nice. Finn out.” Everyone heard Rose Tico’s sob of relief. 

“Connix, prepare an answering message, and make sure to send this as a clip to our allies; we’re gonna need everyone to know half the troopers are with us.”

“They will need some kind of identifying symbol,” blurted Larma, “So we don’t shoot them!”

“Right, put that in too. Anything else?” There were a few more questions about the route to take and supplies to bring, and volunteers were called to stay behind and care for the refugees who’s rescue had initiated the fracture in the First Order. 

People started moving out. Leia retained Ben, “Do you want to tell them anything?”

“Mom, I’m not one for speeches…”

“It doesn’t have to be a speech, son.” It was just the two of them in the room; even Rey had given them some space.

Ben thought for a while before answering, “I’d like to thank those that supported us during the purge. They put those children’s needs above their vanity.” 

Leia made a little sound in her throat and Ben looked down to see the woman appear full of regret. Resentment suddenly lifted from his soul like a huge weight put aside and he cradled her in his arms. “Mom, I— “

“I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you, son, I didn’t know what to do…” 

“Mom… it wasn’t your fault. I know that now. It was just too much for you. And Snoke picked up on that and used it against me. Against all of us.” He held his mother for a moment, realizing how small and fragile she had become. And how she was still filled with the same determination and strength she had always been. 

That same strength he found in Rey. 

It was a moment before he let her go. Larma came back in and they put the answering message together. 

***

Supreme Leader Armitage Hux looked terrible and he knew it. His hair flopped about, his face was shaved but raw, his uniform clean and pressed but not starched. His boots were dull and his gloves, new and stiff. Pryde and Gniss and the others saw it, but said nothing, keeping their faces carefully neutral while concentrating on the sector map that hovered before them over the great black plasteel table in the Supreme Council war room. “We will come out of the jump briefly over Ixtlar” — the planet zoomed into view — “for resupply and for our allies to join us—”

“Supreme Leader… We have been receiving word that some of our allies are having difficulties in reaching us,” a stout woman announced in the no-nonsense voice he had always appreciated from Bellava Parnadee.

“Difficulties.” Hux repressed a sigh. Much was riding on the success of this operation. “How many allies are having such difficulties, General Parnadee?” 

“About a third, Sir. They say they may be “late”.” She sounded annoyed but still confident. Hux looked around the table, seeing fleeting expressions vanish under his scrutiny. Which one of them wanted him dead the most? Wanted him dead  _ now _ , when they were so close to taking the Core?

Pryde spoke up, displaying a confidence where Hux’s had begun to fray: “No matter. We will deal with them after we take Coruscant. They will be more than happy to serve us then.”

“They certainly will,” punctuated Hux, just as the ship came out of hyperspace. “Ah. We made it. Everyone to their posts, pass the orders down, we should be here only a few hours, half a cycle, maybe. Dismissed.”

The room emptied, and Hux watched Captain San’Luxida’s holo image fade out. In a standard galactic cycle, everything would come together, and a unified,  _ rational  _ civilization would be established. He would promote Telia to Admiral after the battle — if she deserved it — and take her out to dinner someplace nice. As an admiral, she would be more on level with him. A woman of that...  _ rectitude  _ would make a nice match for him. 

**

They shuffled around the console trying to contain their excitement, while commander Manning breathed through her freckled nose and punched in the sequence to de-scramble the answer from the Resistance. The wait while the algorithm decrypted the short message seemed interminable and now both Archex and Finn were leaning over her, and she had to frown at them to reclaim some breathing space. They fell back, but only for a minute; when the signal chimed, they leaned in close again and she projected the holo over the console and stood up to watch it.

“Fellow Resistance members and fighters for the dignity of sentient beings everywhere…” Leia Organa started, “we received your message and are on our way to Coruscant. We advised our allies as well.” Some information was passed, mostly about callsigns and meeting coordinates, and then Kylo Ren slid into the frame, looking hale and confident, and humbly thanking everyone who had supported him before he was putshed out, adding that he did not seek a return to power, but a simple life for him and his future wife, Rey of Jakku. Then he thanked them again, signed off, and another, older woman came on with some final information before wishing them all the Force be with them.

There were cheers when it was finished, both for the support promised and the confirmation that the terrible monster known as Kylo Ren had been gentled by the love of a woman that had lived enslaved like most of them. Finn looked relieved and stunned at the same time. He had gambled a bit, announcing the support of the Resistance for dissident stormtroopers, and it had paid off. 

And Ben Solo… Ben Solo had been saved as well. 

“Ok, FN-2187,” jested Archex, snapping him back to the task at hand, “We have to answer them.”

“They asked us for some visible sign to identify us… do we have red paint?” he asked, an image of three blood-red stripes across a white visor popping into his mind.

**

Captain San’Luxida had never felt so close to a promotion before. Her escort of Enhanced Elite Stormtroopers followed her everywhere, prompting crew and other troopers alike to leap out of her way and salute her anywhere she went, even when it was just the fresher. Guarded so closely, she was perfectly safe from any attack from some disgruntled crewmember who might decide to take matters into his own hands and dispense some twisted form of justice upon her body. 

Not for the first time, she wondered if she could order them to blast Hux and the whole Supreme Council into shredded meat, but was fairly certain the Drones assigned to her would follow the chain of command rigorously and not obey such an order. They would probably turn against her in the seconds following that command. 

The curtness of their interactions had revealed the depth of their brainwashing. She could not reason with them; she could not even have a proper conversation with one of them. And they guarded her so closely, she was reduced to whispered exchanges with Archex from within the fresher, with the shower turned on at full volume. 

“Yes, we’re here only a few hours,” she spoke quickly into the little device, “and about a third of the allies are hesitant in joining in the battle.” She thought of something else: “Hux looked… unkempt, it was strange.” She laughed when Archex told her of the good doctor’s  _ poison _ , and he joined her briefly, his deep chuckle a balm on her isolation. Then the few minutes she allowed herself were up and she hid the device under the sink. 

She was treading dangerous waters, and her loyal crew with her, who looked at her with frustration clear on their faces, forced to guess at what she needed them to do. She delivered her orders and information as neutrally as she could, and hoped they knew her well enough to interpret which orders were real, and which ones for show. 

**

Armitage Hux stood in Kylo Ren’s quarters, combing through his drawers and wardrobe, looking for anything that might inform and prepare him for what the ex-Supreme Leader might do. He had delayed this breach of privacy long enough, like he had delayed the state funeral he had promised, a sudden reappearance of Ren possibly as damning for the Order as a second neglectful passage of powers without proper honors would be. 

Could he find anything in the man’s quarters that could tarnish his reputation enough to justify the First Order’s ambivalent stance and now condemnation of him?

Certainly the Ren’s previous savagery had been well known by the troops, but Snoke’s cruelty had been far worse, and the immediate softening in tone of leadership after Ren’s takeover, followed by his — admittedly clumsy — first efforts at diplomacy had given the man a more humane face. 

The prints on the bedroom wall were annotated in a language foreign to him, though he understood they spoke of fate and terrible purpose; the imminent destruction by that irresistible storm wave... was it the Force itself? Would it wash away the village, the civilization that seemed tiny on the mountain side?

Did the black fish from the other prints finally make its choice? Did it really have a choice?

Staring at the triptych, it became clear to Hux that Kylo had chosen his sun-bright half in the Force... and that left someone else the choice to become the red Dragon.

Trapping the Scavenger in close proximity on their capital ship, unable to contain her as she prowled about until she had crawled right under Kylo Ren’s skin and convinced him to support her operation to purge the more decadent elements of the Order… that had changed him. 

Hux moved to the living room and came to stand in front of Kylo’s writing desk between the stargazing port and the wall-length bookcase. Darth Vader’s deformed relic stood on its pedestal beside it, the past finally abandoned. 

He flipped through the drawings and the poems on the table, and for a moment wondered if in his impatience to conquer the systems, he hadn’t treated his rival for Snoke’s attention unfairly. 

They had been like brothers once. 

It was too late now. Either Kylo Ren had run away or he was with the Resistance. That latter possibility was what they had to prepare for.

That General Organa had given refuge to Kylo Ren. 

It could make for some very interesting propaganda. He could involve Telia San’Luxida into preparing this new message. “Beware the wrath of a woman scorned” he’d heard his father say, occasionally baring the scar the mother of his only child had given him. When Brendol Hux had decided to take in his only son after all — but left the woman behind — she’d cursed him and stabbed him with a broken bottle of wine. 

Armitage had never forgotten that moment. He never would. 

Kylo had chosen the Scavenger over Telia. Hux rolled up the drawings to bring to her. 

***

The  _ Night Buzzard _ left the atmosphere and was confronted to the sight of the  _ Acclamator-class _ cruiser  _ Manicouagan _ , a ship that had seen better days but was large enough to contain most of the ragtag fleet and well-armored enough to protect the Resistance high-command. 

Ben Solo looked at the vessel he was about to embark on, knowing its owners would want to meet and assess him, just like everyone he had ever met in his life. It was the curse of his legacy. 

In his ship, with his Ren, he felt safe in a familiar space, but it was time for him to come to terms with the fact that killing Snoke had also killed his construct Kylo Ren. Ben Solo was the son of heroes of the Rebellion and the grandson of the Empire’s most fearsome Enforcer, Darth Vader.

And Darth Vader was also Anakin Skywalker, Jedi Hero of the Clone Wars. It was the part of history rarely told anymore — how Jedi hubris had blinded them to the rot at their very core, how denial of emotional attachment had made Anakin  _ more  _ vulnerable to grief and fear and anger, instead of insulating him from those emotions deemed wrong and shameful. How that same need for love had circled back to reach and almost destroy  _ him _ . 

_ ‘The face of my son’. _ The words echoed in his mind. Enslaved by Snoke, Ben had denied the connection, calling his father weak and foolish. 

_ Dad, I’ll be a better man. I promise. _

*

Aboard the  _ Falcon, _ Luke and Chewie and Rey, and Sergeant Bonn — who was enjoying his relative freedom by connecting with everyone he could — were getting ready for the approximate seven hour-trip to the core. 

The last few weeks of a cease-fire had been put to good use by the Resistance; allies that had been cowed into submission after the destruction of the New Republic, then become dubious of the Resistance’s relevance, after the cease-fire had made them appear insignificant, had come around and started believing in freedom again. 

Snoke’s demise, followed by Kylo Ren’s lax grip on power, had exposed the weaknesses of the First Order. The scandal of decadence and schism had further weakened the Order’s might. Now the new change in power promised a return to ruthlessness, but it was apparent the Beast was flailing about in its death throes. 

Rumor had it the ex-Supreme Leader himself had joined the Resistance. 

Bonn and Luke and the others watched the propaganda holo, almost unbelieving of its lack of self-awareness. 

“That is the most romantic piece of propaganda I have ever seen,” commented Luke. 

Rey was blushing furiously beside him. Chewie was laughing out loud. 

“I can’t believe Hux and his senior staff didn’t realize how presenting Kylo Ren as a lovesick fool would work in our favor,” said Bonn. 

**

Telia was proud of her best work yet. 

She had looked at the beautiful drawings and read the simple poems and felt infused with the longing and the hope — and the budding  _ love  _ — that had sprouted between the two powerful, lonely beings over their common goal: the safety of children. She had frowned and spat with disdain while Hux had tasked her with ridiculing Kylo Ren, but as soon as the wretch had left her office she let her better sentiments shine through. 

The few sentences she had weaved together practically  _ rhymed _ .

Now as she was being marched towards the brig by her own personal guard, she hoped her execution would be swift and painless. 

The  _ Incinerator’s  _ second-in-command, Commander Billiam Drake, had been ready for a promotion for a while now... but not mere hours away from attacking the Core world Coruscant, and with his Captain in jail. He had only minutes to run to her quarters to recuperate the crypto device and secure it in his clothing, under the guise of fetching her toothbrush, which is how she had told him where the device was. 

He reached her just before they shut her away. “Here Captain, I found it,” he told her, to which she answered: “Good. Good oral hygiene is important. I will have to keep a clean mouth on the  _ Steadfast _ . You have to take care of our ship now, Bill, I trust you.” 

*

“Drake, is that you?” Archex stared disappointedly at the little square contraption in his palm; if Telia’s second-in-command was using her crypto-key, that meant she couldn’t use it herself. 

“They’ll be taking her to the brig on the  _ Steadfast _ . I suspect Hux will want a word with her.”

“I doubt he’ll get a chance.” Archex paused, giving time for the  _ Incinerator’s  _ new captain to commit himself to the operation. 

“He won’t. We’re ready,” was the almost immediate reply.

“So is everyone else. Our mark is three blood-red stripes. We revolt as soon as the Resistance joins us. May the  _ Maker  _ grant us her favor.”

“May the Force be with us all.  _ Incinerator  _ out.” 

_ Telia _ , thought Archex,  _ we’ll get you out of there. _

**

“We obviously have to overrun the  _ Steadfast _ ; we don’t have the firepower to destroy it anyway, and now we know how many stormtroopers are with us.” Leia Organa started.

“The  _ Incinerator  _ and the  _ Absolution  _ are with us also. The  _ Predator  _ and the  _ Dominatrix’s  _ command are loyal to the First Order top brass. We don’t know about the others.” Rey added. 

“Once we get there, we can have the stormtroopers we picked up board the ship and spread out to find their comrades and share information.” Bonn was there, his Red armor contrasting with Trudgen’s black and Ben's dark greys and tans. 

“How do we get them on there?” Leia asked.

“We were gone, what? Less than a week?” Ben Solo stated. “That’s time enough for the Knights of Ren to capture Kylo Ren and bring him back.” A few loud curses echoed in the war room aboard the  _ Manicouagan _ . He continued, “You can be sure Hux will come see his prize and gloat over his victory, he’ll be within spitting distance. We can kill him then.”

“I’ll come with you,” announced Rey.

“I don’t think so,” Ben commanded, “you have another task, that is to find and extract the staff and crew that helped us in the first place.” The senior Resistance staff looked at the ex-Warlord in a new light; each day since his return had shown him a capable and considerate leader. 

“I can ride in, disguised as a stormtrooper. How else will I get on board?” 

Ben made a sour face, then relented. 

“Who’ll be leading the Stormtroopers?” asked Lieutenant Connix.

The ex-Supreme Leader barely hesitated before answering: “They built this rebellion themselves, so it’s not my place to lead it. I would guess Archex and Finn, and Telia San’Luxida will support it.”

The Resistance General ended the meeting, “Luke and I - and yes, you Chewie - will remain on board the  _ Manicouagan  _ to coordinate with our allies and serve as communications relay between them and Coruscant’s defense system. Everyone’s priority is to neutralize the First Order Fleet as quickly as possible. 

**

The ship lurched and the First Order fleet came out of hyperspace, right over the Core’s crown jewel, Coruscant. “Everyone at their posts, identify yourselves. Be ready to lock down all TIE-fighter bays,” announced Captain Cardinal. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Most of the following chapters are ready and undergoing final self-editing.  
> The epilogue is coming along too, which is always encouraging.


	31. Deception and Disguise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _C’mon, c’mon move,_ Finn urged the lift that rose at a slug’s pace. He breathed deeply to keep calm. He had killed today. Again. But he would make sure he would not need to kill again tomorrow. Or the day after that. Never again.

“The _Behemoth_ has just arrived, Supreme Leader.”

“Good. How long until its orbital cannons are warm?”

“About an hour, Sir.”

“Position the Siege-Dreadnought in orbit over the Jedi temple.” Hux commanded. 

The Supreme Leader barely refrained from rubbing his hands together. Instead, he chewed at his index finger, then put his black leather glove back on. He could still feel the little ridge of callused skin though the leather. 

Coruscant was central to the history of the Galaxy, and the Imperial Palace — that had been the Jedi Temple guarded by the Old Republic — was a symbol of Force Power he was more than a little eager to destroy. 

Now overrun with a collection of rival crime gangs, the old galactic capital was a mere shadow of itself, though its prestige was growing again, the destruction of the Hosnian system forcing thousands of industries, system governments and crime syndicates to once again establish headquarters in the Core. 

Hux was not here to restore its former glory however. He would finalize its destruction if it didn’t surrender quickly. There were hoards of wealth hidden in its stygian depths, enough to finance the reconstruction of the Mega-Dreadnought the _Supremacy_ , and the First Order’s self-reliance and mobility had proven an advantage for enough years to be worth restoring. 

The Resistance suicide-run that had cleaved through the city-sized capital-ship had been analysed again and again over the past month, and the possibilities of that maneuvre being reproduced were almost nil. New shield tech had been developed just in case, the engineers almost fighting each other to solve the puzzle of calculating all the factors that had made that mad strike successful. 

The new shields were extremely costly, but effective. Most of the fleet had them placed in strategic places, and the _Behemoth_ had been partially shielded as well. It was still vulnerable though, all of its surface defense as well as the main tower having been swept away by the powerful plasma wave that had washed over its top deck at Crait. Its main control bridge was now in its underbelly, shielded and providing a more strategic — and dramatic — view of its planetary target. 

“They must be scurrying about like ants under there,” crowed Grand Marshall Pryde, imagining the panic of the populace and the Gang Bosses alike. “Half of the Bosses must want to escape with their ill-gotten goods, the other half angry enough to think they can fight us.”

“They’ll never organize enough to repel our forces. A few symbolic destructions will cower both the Crime syndicates and quite a few systems at the same time. Still, we must give them a chance to surrender,” sighed Hux. He turned to his comms commander: “Any reply?”

“Yes Sir, they’ve asked for an hour to prepare terms for a negotiation.”

“That’s just the time we need for the _Behemoth_ ’s cannons to warm up,” Hux smirked. 

“Thugs hoping for a “diplomatic resolution”… the idiots.” General Bellava Parnadee sneered, looking out the bridge viewport. “We should fire on the shuttles leaving the planet.”

“Indeed, General. Weapons, target and shoot down a dozen ships. That should hurry up their surrender.”

“Aye aye, sir.”

Armitage Hux turned to leave the bridge of the Steadfast. He had a few minutes before the next step; maybe Telia San’Luxida would be more amenable to explain her poor choice of words to describe Ren’s desertion. He couldn’t believe his comms teams had rubber-stamped the holo; he couldn’t believe _he’d_ let it pass. 

‘ _His immense heart filled with love_ ’. He shuddered. Lust, more likely, though the Scavenger barely had any forms at all, all whipcord muscle and no softness. A ‘Desert Flower’, Telia had dubbed her. 

_She must have bewitched him with her Jedi tricks_. Obviously Telia was herself taken enough with Kylo to forgive him his indiscretion.

Now the feedback they had started to receive had confounded them all. _Like he’s some Kriffin_ Hero _. Kriff!_

He saw General Gniss run to meet him just as the turbo-lift doors were opening. 

“Supreme Leader, The _Night Buzzard_ is making an approach.”

Hux’s eyebrow collided in surprise over his ice-blue eyes.

“It’s Trudgen Ren… He says they have Kylo with them. They called him Ben Solo.” 

Now Hux visibly paled. 

“Trudgen Ren called himself Master of the Knights of Ren.”

 _‘Maker…_ does that mean they have Kylo _as a prisoner_?”

“They’re asking permission to come on board. Well, telling us really.”

His disappointment with the tall, broken-nosed ship Captain he had hoped would stand with him fell away as the day’s possibilities included not only the capture of the Core world, but the demise of his closest rival and usurper of the First Order leadership: Kylo Ren.

**

Kuruk pulled back his fist, shaking the sting from his knuckles. The effect was as visually striking as hoped: Kylo Ren with two black eyes and a broken nose. Rey moved in to take away the pain, giving the young Ren a dirty look, but he just shrugged; he knew why he’d been given the honor, that debt had been waiting for years. Ben Solo absorbed the pain, but did groan and blink back tears. 

Then Ushar worked on healing the slash across Kylo’s ribs just enough to leave an ugly red scar without the crippling damage. Cardo — now fully healed — and Trudgen finished tearing their ex-Master’s armor. The whole process had an air of finality, like some rite was being performed. 

They left Rey’s lovebites on him - the marks of the Last Master of the Knights of Ren’s final Passion. 

“Hide your lightsaber in your breastplate, Rey Ren,” Ushar had started calling her Ren, and the moniker stuck, even if after today, their Order would cease to exist. “There should be room enough in there,” he snarked. 

Rey ignored the jeer; she was disguised as a stormtrooper to join the six who had volunteered to get back into the fray, to relay info to their comrades on board and help rescue the staff that had chosen dignity over power. Her Jedi Mind-trick ability would conceal her identity from Hux’s scrutiny and his immediate entourage, long enough, she hoped, to be allowed to be on her way to a safe area where she could accomplish the little troupe’s mission. 

Before putting her helmet on, she pushed herself up and gave him one long, deep kiss. He gasped with the intensity. It was filled with hope and lust and heart-swelling _love_. 

“Whatever happens now,” she said, “the First Order ends today.” 

Bonn was with them, dressed as a plain trooper, for now piloting the armored transport. He carried Kylo’s Ren saber tucked between his shoulder blades — the only space large enough inside his armor. 

One of the volunteer troopers would speak for them, if spoken to, hopefully sounding confused and relieved to be back on board the First Order ship. 

Everyone knew their scenarios. Everyone was ready. They felt the ship lurch and hit the deck. “Allright, showtime,” Trudgen announced, and kicked Kylo’s legs from under him. 

**

The crypto-comm device bleeped and blurped and Finn silently thanked the comm ensign on the bridge that was being deliberately incompetent. 

“The Ren volunteered to kill or distract the high command while Rey will be freeing the good doctors,” Rose spoke from the relative safety of the ‘extra-baffled’ _Black Bird_. We wait for your signal.”

 _All I did was_ not _shoot_ , thought Finn for a second, _and now I’m taking the whole damn Order down. That’s really all it takes, isn’t it? For the soldiers to refuse to shoot._ “Aye. I’ll relay that to Billiam Drake on the _Incinerator_ . He’ll coordinate the _Absolution_ attack too.”

“Who’s Drake? I haven’t heard of him yet.” 

Bonn interrupted, almost whispering: “Drake? Where’s San’Luxida?”

“In the brig on the _Steadfast_ ; she crafted the last holo message.” 

Finn heard some noise like a short argument before Bonn replied: “Tell Archex we’ll get her out. Bonn out.”

“Rose, we will be marked with three red stripes. Our signal is sabotage of whatever next move Hux makes. Finn out.”

Poe Dameron came on just long enough to say: “You are the spark, Finn. Poe out.”

**

Hux supposed he could spare the next twenty minutes welcoming the Knights of Ren back to their kennel, especially since they brought him such a gift… but then he would have to leave the bridge at a crucial moment — just as he was about to blow up the Jedi Temple to ensure Coruscant’s surrender. 

He was tempted. 

No. He would not put himself within the Ren’s reach. Not while he wasn’t certain of what he would do with the former Supreme Leader.

Execute him on arrival, or torture him for information on the Resistance? He wondered how the Knights had captured him. Had the Resistance turned him away, or attempted to imprison him and he had escaped _them_ ? Had the _Falcon_ really picked him up? The grainy video had not shown him actually boarding the ship, after all, and the only news about Kylo Ren had been the propaganda the First Order itself had disseminated. The Resistance had been perfectly silent on the subject. No crime syndicate had claimed his capture either. So this rapid turnaround, if he’d been wounded and vulnerable to his Ren, was also possible. 

The Ren had sided with strength after all — military _might_ , and the chance to pursue their favorite activity: hunting down and killing Jedi and their mystic freaks. Kylo had terminated their mission, breaking the compact he had made with the pack. So the pack had turned on him. 

Now, he was still alive, and a prisoner, and in the main port hangard bay.

He turned to Lieutenant Mitaka who had unfortunately placed himself nearest the Leader. “I don’t have time for this. Go meet them with a holo projector. Have my detachment of drone-troopers— ” Force, was he calling them that _himself_ ? — “meet them in the bay. _And get a pair of Force-suppressing cuffs on him!_ “ he almost yelled, reflexively reaching for his throat. 

*

The gangplank came down and Trudgen Ren stepped out with Kuruk, lighting a spice-stick. They saw the pale-faced Lieutenant appear at the door of the hangar bay and join up with a troop of those ‘Enhanced’ troopers, and Trugden spat at the sight of them marching mindlessly towards them. They appeared stupider than droids. “Allright,” he shot at the ones waiting inside, “ten seconds. Troopers out, look smart. Look eager, too.”

Men and women in white armor marked with red or black trade insignia came down the gangplank and formed up in ranks, as if ready for inspection. Seeing that, Mitaka gained confidence and hurried his step to meet with the wolf-pack. 

“Supreme Leader Hux sent me to greet you, Ren.” He placed the device on the ground, activated the holo-projector, and stepped back. 

Hux’s image appeared, only slightly taller than his actual size, face hard but eyes a little wild. 

Trudgen spat again; they had counted on his physical presence to decapitate the First Order quickly. The _coward_ , he thought. 

Armitage looked at the orange spit hitting his polished deck with disdain. “Welcome back, Trudgen Ren. Your arrival is somewhat... untimely.”

“Supreme Leader.” The Ren answered in a neutral tone just short of indifferent. “We can come back some other time if you want. We certainly expected a better reception, considering our gift.” Trudgen drawled, spitting again. 

Hux kept his demeanor under control. He was safe, he was in command, and the Ren were a barbaric lot just short of wild animals. That made them most-efficient killing machines, so still useful to the First Order. “Show me,” he commanded.

“Bring him out!” the new Master of the Knights of Ren hollered, and Cardo and Ushar half-pushed, half-carried the wounded Kylo who fell to his knees before the blue-tinged projection. From the speakers, the team heard a few stunned gasps as the Bridge staff saw the scene displayed before them. 

Dark curls obscured most of the Darksider’s face but his broken nose was apparent, as was the rage in one dark and puffy eye. Hux raised one hand as if to brush his old rival's hair out of the way to see his face, but of course he couldn’t. He let his hand drop. Later. 

“You were never suited for command, Kylo Ren. Or is it now Ben Solo?“ Hux’s image walked around him, “Wait. Mitaka, put those cuffs on him, quickly!” the red-head almost squeaked, but then ground his voice again to taunt his prey while Mitake nervously tried to cuff him. “The Resistance turned you away? You have no friends in all the Galaxy now, Solo. Even your woman abandoned you after she tricked you.” Suddenly Ben Solo surged, muscles rippling under his torn armor, and Mitaka jumped back, prompting Trudgen and Kuruk to push him back down. 

The Darksider kept silent, thinking before the cuffs cut him off from the Force. 

_*Stick to your roles, get me after—*_ was all he had time to communicate before he was walled off. 

Ben Solo had never been cut off from the Force since he’d started feeling it as a child. He felt suddenly bludgeoned and numb, as if he’d gone blind _and_ deaf at the same time. And mute as well. He reeled, absorbing the impact. 

Armitage Hux’s holo looked down at the bleeding, disfigured man kneeling before him. He would be made an example of during the grand ceremony he envisioned would be his consecration and official ascension as Supreme Leader of the First Order, right after he took the Core of the Galaxy. 

“Pathetic. You don’t have anything to say? You’ll talk eventually. I’m sure your ex-disciple Ushar Ren will be more than happy to make you sing for us.” He turned to look at the Ren known as “the Torturer’, who straightened and nodded “Aye.”

“I have tasted love; she will come for me,” Ben Solo announced, pride infusing his low-pitched voice.

Hux stared at the wretch kneeling before him. There was something… erotic about the way he had said those words. They felt infused with an energy that sent a shiver down his spine. Passion. The Darksiders knew passion. 

The holo image fell back a step, as if suddenly scorched. Kylo burned with the belief that the woman had _not_ abandoned him. Dread filled the Supreme Leader. ‘ _Beware the wrath of a woman scorned.’ How_ did _the Ren capture him?_

Suddenly Hux’s attention was solicited and he jerked his head to someone beside him on the bridge and said: “They’re here? Damn. Yes, now’s the time.” He turned back to the spectacle before him, “Troop! Take him to the brig,” he ordered stiffly, “I have a Galaxy to conquer. Ren— ”

“We’d like to stop by our quarters,“ Trudgen interrupted him, the severed connection affecting even him, “Shit, shower and shave, if it’s all the same to you. He wasn’t exactly easy to capture.” He dropped the ‘stick, crushed it under his heavy boot. “Cardo is still recovering from fractured ribs, he should see the doctor,” he tacked on artfully, thinking of their mission first. 

“Yes, of course. In any case, Welcome back Trudgen Ren, _Master_ of the Knights of Ren. We’ll discuss your future missions with the First Order later. _After_ we submit Coruscant. Dismissed. Hux out.” 

The image winked out. The Enhanced Elite Troopers, bearing a six-pointed star emblem — shaped like the grotesque droid embedded in their brain — on their armor to identify them, turned to the ex-Supreme Leader and two stood on each side of him to drag him up. Ben stole a glance at Trudgen and nodded, once, and the Knights let their Master be hauled away, lieutenant Mitaka marching with them. 

“You and you,” Trudgen ordered two volunteer troopers, “Follow and find out where they put him. Report back to the _Night Buzzard_. The rest… we continue as planned.” 

Rey and Bonn stepped out of the armored transport, Bonn putting his hand on Rey's shoulder to support her. “You alright?” he asked her, her discomfort apparent.

“Yeah, It’s just…” Being cut off from Ben was almost a physical sensation, like missing a limb. She’d had the unpleasant experience of wearing the Force-dampening cuffs herself, when presented to Snoke, though at the time, the extra sense had still been an alien ability to her; its absence almost a ‘return to normal’ rather than a severance. Now that she had grown used to it, she could imagine the trauma Ben had accepted. “He could have just got up and blown our cover.” 

“Aye, he could have. Hux not showing up like that… well I guess we’ll just have to do it the hard way.” Bonn looked at the remaining troops: “You know where the Rebels will meet you, go and do your part. We have ours.” 

“Rey Ren, accompany Cardo Ren to the med-bay,” added Trudgeon. “We’ll get our stuff and then meet back here, ready for the extraction. Bonn?”

“I’ll wait here until I know where Telia is. I’ll relay comms in the meantime.” 

**

“Now we have to break Kylo Ren out of the brig?” Finn groaned, not too happy with that development. 

“Well, at least that got the Ren and Rey on board.” Archex countered. “And Bonn. It’s not their fault Hux didn’t show up. They gambled, but only Solo is neutralized. The others are mobile.” 

“There’s that. Hux is nasty, but not stupid.” Finn turned to the comms officer, “This waiting is killing me. Any news?”

Chel Manning relayed the information coming in through her earpiece. “The tech team is close to breaking the crypto on the Drone-droids. We hope to save them. The _Incinerator_ has positioned itself just below the _Behemoth_ and weapons tech have transferred there, hoping to sabotage the cannons. We warned the Resistance the Dreadnought is here. Ah, those troopers are back with direct info. Someone’s out to meet them.”

“This waiting is _killing_ me,” repeated Finn. 

**

The Supreme Council looked at the holo of the quadrant over the war room table, pinpoints of red lights flashing in a wide space around where the fleet floated above Coruscant. “Enemy ships have been appearing, though staying at a distance for now. They know we still have superior fire power,” Gniss explained. 

“Alright, time’s up.” Hux decided. “We knew, _everyone_ knew negotiations would be moot. They bought themselves time.”

Firing _anywhere_ on Coruscant would have disastrous consequences for the system and the galaxy; _billions_ of people still lived there. One strike could hand him the galaxy. He moved up close to the viewport, a projection of the Jedi Temple juxtaposed near so he could view the destruction in all its burning glory. 

“Fire on the Temple when ready.” 

**

The long-range-sensor holo showed the placement of the First Order fleet to the staff on the _Manicouagan_. The appearance of the partly disabled dreadnought spoke of the gamble the new Supreme Leader was taking. 

“Those orbital canons are hot. They’re preparing to shoot!” Lieutenant Connix exclaimed, while Leia swore and Larma tried to calculate how the choice of target would affect the chessboard before them. 

They watched helpless while a volley of blasts shot from the cannons to hit the planet below. 

“The _Temple_! I can’t believe it!” Luke cried, once again resisting the urge to go out there and do something stupid. 

*

The first hits exploded thousands of years of building-layers of the Jedi-Temple. 

The next hits never came. 

“Supreme Leader, the canons have stopped… like they’re… jammed?”

Hux looked out the viewport, his pyrophilic pleasure cut short by the aide’s exclamation and the subsequent panicked communication by the Behemoth’s Captain. 

His Council rapidly exchanged information behind him, Pryde issuing a few curt orders: cease-fire to assess the weapon’s state, estimate the damage done planet-side, listen for communications from the planet. 

Less than a minute passed before feedback poured in. They’d made considerable damage to the Temple, the holo showing the Force-Nexus Spire now exposed like some obscene appendice sticking up from the burning wreckage around it. The next hit would have destroyed it. 

Urgent, pleading calls from planet-bound representatives and officials vied for attention and Gniss and the others were accepting their surrender. 

And then, damnation. 

**

Finn staggered, the surge of Force-energy almost physically pushing him into the console beside him. He looked around, realizing only he had been affected by the attack on the Force-Nexus. For a moment he struggled with rage and despair, then it passed. 

“The _Behemoth_ crew have successfully neutralized the cannons, Captain,” Manning relayed, earpiece in place. 

Archex wondered why he let her continue to use the title, he had abandoned it. 

“They’re evacuating now. Ok, they’re out.”

Archex took a breath before saying the next words, the consequences still too great to fully comprehend in his simple man’s mind.

“Finn, Drake... it’s your move.”

**

“Supreme Leader, the orbital cannons crew— they’re dead! The weapons techs are all dead or gone!”

Hux felt his guts turn to icy bricks. The bridge fell silent. And then, as they all looked at the dreadnought’s silent cannons, they exploded. 

The _Incinerator_ had fired on the turret. 

“ _Mutiny_!” screamed Hux.

**

Rey crashed into the wall as if pushed, Cardo stumbling beside her. 

“What was that?” she asked, feeling a surge of dread from the Force. 

“They must have attacked the Jedi Temple.” The big man suddenly hushed, cowed by the realization that one of the Ren’s most important goals — the destruction of that cursed symbol — had just been accomplished. He didn’t know what to think about that. It felt bitter. _Let the past die_. 

The Force swirled within him, agitated, angry. He grabbed Rey by the arm and slammed her against the bulkhead, pushing his body against her. Why were they even doing what they were doing now? What had that woman done to their Master? He grabbed her throat, felt her struggle against him. 

“Cardo,” she managed to croak, “please!” 

A flash of Kuruk’s worried face hovering over him while both Kylo and Rey worked to save him displaced the urge he felt to throttle the woman who was destroying the Knights of Ren. 

“ _Please_!” she barely wheezed out. And he saw Kuruk’s relieved face when he’d come to, in the Resistance’s med bay. 

_Let the past die_.

Dr. Indah Cylkarr and her staff had patched him and the Ren up multiple times. He dropped Rey and she nearly fell, coughing and leaning on the wall for support. He felt anger rise in her as she looked at him — even through the visor — then felt that anger redirect at Hux and the Supreme Council. 

“There will be plenty of killing to do after we extract our people, Cardo Ren.” 

*

He plodded along the corridors, his vision a narrow tunnel of white armor and booted feet, tinged in red. He should have trained himself to combat without the Force, learned to cope without it. He felt once again for it, like one feels around a missing limb, phantom sensations tickling him but he was unable to get a grasp on them. 

Then a wave crashed into him and he stumbled and nearly fell. 

There it was, like a storm surge, too strong to be dampened by the cuffs. A spike of Force energy, wild and angry, just enough for him to grasp it. He had only seconds to figure out the cuff’s mechanism. 

With a supreme effort he shorted the electronics. 

Kylo Ren took a deep breath; he was whole again. The physical component of the cuffs was still attached to his wrists, but one flick would free him. 

*

They made it to the medbay. The good doctor and her trusted staff were ready, datapads of ongoing research clutched in their hands. A trio of rebels were there, one a transport pilot. 

As they left the bay, a detachment of stormtroopers saw them and picked up the pace to meet them. 

They had that six-pointed-star insignia on them. Rey searched and found their leader. 

“Doctors,” the Drone-sergeant tonelessly instructed, “You must remain in the Medical bay.” 

Rey reached for the man’s mind with the Force. “You will allow us to pass, and will head for the mess hall.”

“I will allow…” the man started, then a series of blips and clicks echoed in Rey's mind. Beside her, Cardo touched his forehead. 

‘ _Access denied. Access denied. Access denied…_ ’ Rey heard in a monotone loop. A loop she suddenly felt caught in. 

“Doctors, you will return to the Medical bay,” the troop-sergeant repeated, while Rey fought to overcome the droid’s program. 

Cardo suddenly bashed the leader's head with his cannon-wielding arm, knocking him out. The shock freed Rey, who, seeing the imminent fire battle, reached into her bosom to pull out her lightsaber and put herself between her charge and the troopers. 

It was a hard-won encounter. 

The troopers had much quicker reflexes than their ordinary counterparts. When they realized how the pair of Ren were countering their attacks, they switched to targeting the medical staff instead and Rey was forced to just defend her ward from blaster bolts, her efforts at ricochet missing by millimeters. She walked the staff back, letting the rebels move forward and two died before Cardo managed to launch a small missile that took the whole detachment out. 

They stared at the bodies in disbelief for a second, catching their breath. Then one of the fallen drones started to twist and twitch, and from under it’s helm they saw one of those droid spiders crawl out, covered in blood and brain matter, and start to skitter away. Rey had just the reflex to pin it down with the Force. Cardo crushed it under his boot. They watched the others but no more came out. 

One of the medical assistants was sobbing uncontrollably. “C’mon, we have to get the hell out of here,” Indah reminded them. They made for the hangar bay where the _Buzzard_ waited.

**

It was a few stunned seconds before the captains of the _Dominatrix_ and the _Predator_ realized that the _Incinerator_ had rebelled, and a few more before the screaming orders to “ _Fire on that ship_!” jolted their respective crews into action. 

**

“Target the main bridge of the _Steadfast_ . _Fire_!” 

Billiam Drake knew the _Steadfast’s_ bridge shield would hold against his onslaught, but he knew the people standing in that room would be hard pressed not to soil their custom-made, pressed-and-starched uniform breeches with the fear such near explosions would ignite in them.

“Direct our other weapons at the surface canons. Take as many out as you can.” The goal was to neutralize the flagship as quickly as possible without killing everyone aboard. A rebellion couldn’t be won if every rebel died during the engagement. He only hoped his own shields would hold for the time it took for the _Absolution_ to join in and the other ships to pick sides. 

**

“It started, General Organa, the—”

Luke didn’t hear the rest of the sentence as he fell to his knees, a shock wave of disrupted Force-energy washing over him and Leia, and his sister sat down hard on a chair near him. Seconds passed in stunning pain and shock.

“Leia, are you alright? Master Luke!?” Connix reached down to help him, but he waved her away, looking at his sister to see her recover as well. 

“ _Fuck_! Do you think they destroyed it ?!” Leia swore after the shockwave passed. 

“It sure feels like it. The fools!” Every Force-sensitive for thousands of parsecs around the Core would feel that. People unaware of their Force-sensitivity until now would violently discover a new sense - through staggering pain. 

“They have to collapse today, or they will do this to every Force-Nexus in the Galaxy. The idiots! Do they think to destroy the Force itself?” 

“General, Master Luke, we have to get involved now,” Larma was calm, reminding them that their mission was just that: neutralizing the First Order. “The battle started, one of their ships has fired on the Flagship, other ships fired at that rebel ship.”

“Take us in, verify which ship is on which side then inform our allies.” Leia looked at the holomap, two red dots turned green, two more turned orange. “We have to defend the rebels.”

**

Finn ran with his red-striped detachment down corridors towards the Main Bridge, stunning every trooper that stood in their way and didn’t join them. There had been heated arguments about that, whether to kill or spare their brothers, before settling on using the highest stun setting - at risk of permanent brain injury - for now and trying survivors later. 

“Thousands will die even with our best intentions.” _Saving what we love_ , Rose had told Finn on Crait before the cease-fire had been called, stopping him from rushing out and confronting obviously superior firepower. She’d kissed him then, and he’d relented. “I’d rather we be the ones to show mercy, and save as many as we can.” 

They had only minutes to take over the _Steadfast_ and cut off the First Order’s head, figuratively if possible, if not, then literally. 

**

Trudgen, Ushar and Kuruk all staggered or swayed on their feet, feeling the attack on the Force-Nexus Spire like a stabbing or a flaying on their body, and they each fought to resist the sudden rage and terror that invaded them. If that was what attacking a Force Nexus felt like, they were glad Snoke had never had a chance to carry through with his plan to destroy them, although they could be fairly certain that he would not have continued after that horrible sensation. 

Hux however, would not have felt any of it, nor any of the First Order personnel directing this attack. The three Knights came out of their quarters almost at the same time, and made for the lift to the bridge. 

“That was horrible,” Trudgen said, seeing tension between Ushar and Kuruk that almost had them fighting each other. “Resist it,” he ordered them, then:

“Feel that? The Boss is free again. Good. The fun starts now. We make for the bridge.”

**

“You will bring me to Captain San’Luxida,” said Kylo in a low-pitched voice to the drone sergeant.

_Access denied. Access denied. Access den—_

Surprised, Kylo tried to think of some other way to complete his task. Apart from immediately breaking free from his escort and finding the good captain on his own, he had few options. Then he felt agitation all around him, his restored Force-sensitivity letting him sense the Force-signatures of the crew and staff they passed. At first surprised by the shock at seeing him, then their attention focused away in frantic urgency, then near panic.

The Rebellion had begun. 

Twisting his wrists out of the now-useless Force-dampening handcuffs, Ben Solo grabbed a blaster from the nearest Drone and shot two down before any of them had a chance to react. He was quickly joined by two troopers who identified themselves as the volunteers who had followed him and the three blasted and Force-pushed the detachment into the bulkheads. 

The battle was much harder than anticipated. Even without his Ren saber, he should have made quick-work of the lobotomized troopers. Instead, he found “Enhanced” was indeed the proper qualifier. Now Ben and his ally were ensconced in a recess, holding their ground but unable to advance. 

When he saw one of the bug-like droids escape and skitter away, he shot it, then shot each downed Drone-trooper in the head, just to be sure. He turned to the surviving rebel trooper, saw him looking down with hunched shoulders. 

“I knew some of these men,” he said, then he straightened. “Lead on Sir.” 

Ben Solo closed his eyes briefly and contacted his Dyad-half: _*I’m free. Those drones are a sithspawn to kill.*_

 _*Ben!*_ Relief flooded the Bond. _*Yeah, we ran across some of our own. Where are you?*_

_*Almost to the brig, but pinned down. I lost my escort.*_

_*Stay put, I’ll come to you with your saber and some of our men to help you.*_

He looked around to get his bearings, and let her know where they were. He didn’t know how long he could hold off their fire, then he heard one Drone-trooper call for reinforcements. * _Rey… I got a bad feeling about this._ * 

Rey hopped up and down, almost tearing the armor off Bonn’s back to get to the Ren Saber. When it caught in yet another buckle, she had a flash of insight. 

She reached for Anakin Skywalker’s silver-hilted ‘saber clipped to her waist. 

Then, with supreme effort, she opened the Bond a little more, just so she could reach for his hand.

* _Here, take it_ ,* she told him. A thrill flared up from the other end, and she let go.

The good doctor and her staff boarded the _Night Buzzard_. They had just enough time to exchange reports with the other ships and teams before Rey finally ripped the Ren saber from Bonn’s back and sped off with four rebels to find Ben Solo and Telia San’Luxida.

**

The _Absolution’s_ rebels had met some pushback from the ship’s top staff before finally joining the fray. The _Dominatrix_ and the _Predator_ were hopeless causes, only extraction of friendlies was possible. The other ships were still in the middle of their rebellions, command switching rapidly from one faction to the other then back again, weapons firing unpredictably on anything that came near the ships. 

“Disable the weapons but keep your shields up,” Archex counselled them from the _Absolution’s_ bridge, hoping to at least mitigate the damage by neutralizing the disputed ships. Beside him, a wounded but very determined Captain Vedna was coordinating the star-destroyer’s attack on the _Predator’s_ surface canons.

**

From the _Steadfast_ , the _Buzzard_ took flight, making for the planet below, Bonn piloting. 

Hux bit fully into the sore in his cheek and felt blood flood his mouth. He nearly vomited on the floor in front of the viewport. 

“Supreme Leader, we are at near-even strength within our fleet, with two ships mutinied, two ships loyal, and the rest still in contention. We can still escape— “

Hux turned on Parnadee. She had that calm, pragmatic take on the situation which right now he found maddening. Pryde stood with her, annoyance clear on his face. Gniss spoke from his station to the port of the bridge: “More Resistance allies have shown up, they’re moving in now. Only a few of our own allies are here, and the pirates on the planets are mounting a defense… “ he trailed off. His voice had crescendoed with every sentence, ending almost in a shriek.

Hux swallowed another mouthful of blood. “Which is the Resistance Flagship?”

**

Han Solo’s son was alive and wielding Anakin Skywalker’s Lightsaber. The drones before him understood none of this, but the droids in their heads were starting to calculate the odds and three of them retreated out of his reach, while two stupidly advanced on him. 

Emotions roiled within him, rage and mercy vying to utilise the saber’s Kyber, who hadn’t forgotten Anakin’s sin. The Kyber threatened to rebel at any moment, so Kylo had to reach for the Force in a way he was unused to in battle; he had to soothe it instead of coaxing it. He had to reign in his anger and put the soldiers before him out of their misery like he had fought Sithspawn with Luke. 

He had to feel _balanced_. 

He thought of Rey for a moment; how he had essentially surrendered to her. 

The blade burned a brighter blue than before, almost white.

As enhanced as they were, he made short work of the ones advancing on him and his surviving companion, ensuring his plasma beam punched through their helmets before dropping them. Then he moved to kill the rest. 

The drone troopers fell, freed from their parasitic droids through death. 

More troopers came. He braced himself. Using the saber this way was harder than he thought. He waited for them to attack first. When they did, he pushed them back with the same strength they attacked him with, keeping the bloodlust at bay. These soldiers recognized him, they were not Drones. He sought out their sergeant and concentrated on her. She met his challenge and was promptly defeated. 

All were still for a moment. Then one of them nodded at him and the remaining troopers fell back. 

He ran towards the brig. 

**

The Skywalker twins crowded Larma in front of the holo-console. “They’re coming for us.”

“We’re winning then.” Leia pushed down a premature wave of triumph. They had to survive the still vastly superior firepower of the First Order before calling for victory. Her people would defend the _Manicouagan_ , the Resistance allies would fight the First Order allies until the Supreme Leader surrendered or died without a successor. “Raise shields. Dameron, it’s your game.”

“Aye, General. Squadrons, we take out only those who attack us directly. We have to let the Rebellion play out, or we risk hitting them as well. Go go go!”

The space between the two fleets became congested with ships of all sizes and alliances, spinning around each other before finding their targets and shooting them down. The Rebels had locked down most of their hangar bays, keeping TIE-Fighters out of the fight for the most part. That simplified things for the Resistance. Unfortunately, their little ships were no match for the star-destroyers moving in on the Resistance Flagship. 

**

Archex was on the _Absolution_ , Drake on the _Incinerator_ , Bonn was evacuating support staff, Rey was joining Ben to extract San’Luxida. 

That left Finn leading the Stormtrooper Rebellion on board the _Steadfast_ , and the squadron he was leading — with two other squadrons making their way by parallel routes — to overrun the main bridge and put an end to this madness. He had Chel Manning in constant communication in his earpiece, relaying info or connecting him directly to the other cells. The _Avenger_ had just been won. The technical team — aided by Rose from the _Manicouagan_ — thought they had found a hack to disable the spider-droids controlling the Drone-troopers, thought it could just as well kill the hapless troopers as free them. 

They faced resistance at every deck, not insurmountable, but enough to slow their advance. 

“We’re moving away from Coruscant,” told the voice in his ear, “I think Hux decided on a final confrontation with the Resistance.” 

_C’mon, c’mon move,_ Finn urged the lift that moved at a slug’s pace. He breathed deeply to keep calm. He had killed today. Again. But he would make sure he would not need to kill again tomorrow. Or the day after that. Never again. The lift doors opened and the first troopers they saw were shot down by troopers behind them further down the corridor. It was madness and he blasted stun-bolts at them, before switching again to lethal bolts on the unrepentant ones. They advanced, united, every hard-fought meter bringing them closer to inevitable victory. 

**

“Half our cannons are neutralized Sir, and only a fraction of our TIEs made it out.” 

Hux finally spat blood on the polished floor, making the officer near the spatter gag. 

“Look at that relic, that’s just an assault ship! From when? The Old Republic?” asked Hux, wiping his chin, disappointed by the puny ship that challenged his might.

The _Manicouagan_ ’s image floated before them, with a cluster of escort fighters guarding it, while the rest of the map showed a swarm of smaller ships moving in dizzying patterns, some of them winking out of existence even as they spoke. 

“ _Acclamator-Class_ assault ship, Sir. Seven-hundred fifty-two meters in length, twelve Quad turbolaser turrets, twenty-four laser cannons— ”

“Shielding?”

“Reasonable deflector shields, sir, but our scans show they are well boosted, most of their energy is being rerouted to defense.”

“They don’t plan on attacking us.”

“They don’t have to.” Grand-Marshall Pryde’s voice sounded like the knell of doom. “Ah, now the _Avenger_ is lost,” he tacked on as an afterthought as another star-destroyer turned red. 

Armitage Hux was not about to let the mutineers win. “Crush the _Incinerator_ . Then the _Absolution_. Fire at will!” he hollered, and his command staff relayed the orders to the ships that remained loyal.

**

All they had to do was follow the trail of death to find him. His Force-signature was cooler than last time, he was composed. Rey and Cardo Ren saw more fallen troopers that were not dead but wounded instead. When she met up with him, Ben Solo was brandishing that bright blue blade and had a new escort of rebel troopers with him. He was interrogating the brig officer, who had wisely decided to collaborate. 

They freed Telia, and many of the prisoners — personnel who had questioned authority and gotten caught or ratted out — joined them immediately. 

The women hugged. Then Ben walked over and briefly embraced the tall, broken-nosed Captain as well, thanking her before they all ran back for the hangar bays where, hopefully, some transports were still available. 

Rey paused a minute to heal Ben’s face — _like hell I’m leaving you like this!_ — and then they were on their way again, Rey sharing the information she had with the captain of the _Incinerator._

“Get me on there, my ship needs me!” Telia demanded, thinking of the thousands of people she had led over the years, the ones she had encouraged to listen to their conscience and remain true while the First Order had strayed away from the philosophy she had embraced as a young officer. 

This time, with the two of them together, Ben with the blue blade, Rey brandishing the crimson Ren, their advance was much easier, First Order loyalists melting away before them instead of engaging them. 

“Cowards!” spat Rey as she spun the red plasma beam eagerly. Ben suddenly envied her uninhibited power. Untrained, she was pure emotion and the Kyber in his saber almost sang for her. And of course, seeing and feeling her close and filled with fury was exciting him as well. The blue blade sputtered. 

“Where’s Archex?” demanded Telia, snapping him back to the immediate business of surviving the rebellion. 


	32. Rebels

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Who’s next in command here,” Finn suddenly blurted, witnessing the scene and thinking of the battles still out there, people on either side still fighting and dying while the Generals were playing at preserving their pride.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll admit I got excited writing this and put everything in it. I barely refrained from throwing in the kitchen sink. No Beta = no constraints.  
> It was a lot of fun but absolutely exhausting.

Captain(interim) Billiam Drake suddenly felt the winds of war change when he realized the _Predator_ had positioned above them and was now turning her ventral cannon to aim directly at the bridge he was standing in. 

His second-in-command looked at him, face grim. His navigator turned to him as well, the same expression on his face. They were boxed in by the _Predator_ , the _Dominatrix_ and the _Steadfast_ ; and now the _Harbinger_ seemed to have picked a side at last. 

“Commander Manning, have we had any news from the rebels on the _Harbinger_?” he asked softly over the comms.

“Sir… I heard the last sergeant die,” came the disheartened response. 

“Thank you Chel, it was an honor serving with you,” he turned to the rest of his staff: “Redirect all power to the shields, they will give you ten minutes to evacuate. After that, we ram the Predator to take it out.”

Bombardements started pelting the hull from the combined forces around them; the turrets above not quite aimed on their exact location yet.

His communications officer relayed the message over the ships comm but remained seated. Only one man left, pushed out, really, by an older man who Drake remembered was his uncle. 

He realized TIE-Fighters were deploying from his ship, and when one passed close enough to be visible, he saw bright red stripes adorned its cockpit. Losing the _Incinerator_ did not mean losing the battle.

** 

Another lift door opened and three Knights of Ren stepped out, armored and armed to the teeth. The sight of them still made Finn shudder, and he waited to see if their Master was with them. He wasn’t. 

Finn took a deep breath and gestured to get their attention and signal them to his position. 

“We have the battering ram,” Ushar grinned when he reached their little squad, “and some pry-bars and a few other things.”

The Dusk-skinned rebel never thought to see a Ren smile. He never thought to see a Ren’s _face_. But he was relieved at the Knight’s foresight. They had lost their hacker tech two decks below, and the Bridge’s armored doors were within sight. 

**

Bonn hadn’t returned with the _Buzzard_ yet. Unarmed crew and staff boarded another transport, a pilot ready to evacuate them. Others found weapons and prepared to join in the fray, applying the three-stripes symbol to their armor to identify them. 

The command shuttle was on the other side of the ship. They made for the next bay over, where the two prototype TIE-fighters were docked, still waiting. 

“Rey, you remember how to pilot the _Whisper_?” She nodded. “Take Telia to her ship and then we can join in and take out some of the rabble out there.”

Rey squealed in excitement and both officers looked at her, suddenly reminded of her youth. Ben almost changed his mind but Telia touched his elbow to calm him; it was Rey’s war too. 

“Rey, don’t take unnecessary risks, use the Force,” he made her promise.

“What about me?” asked Cardo, “I won’t fit on your lap, Ren.” 

“Get to the Command shuttle, ready to evacuate. Here’s my key,” Ben turned to his Dyad-Half, “Rey, comm with the teams and tell them to link us up so we know how the mutiny is goi—” the hangar bay shield suddenly buckled and winked out. Ren and Rey reflexively Force-pulled themselves to the hangar floor, Ben barely catching Telia as she was being sucked away, and then the shield winked back into existence and they fell back to the floor. 

“What was that!?” cried the tall woman. 

“That was our cue to get the fuck out of this bay,” yelled Cardo, and he ran off. 

The two split and each climbed into a TIE, and the Dyad took flight on the _Whisper_ and the _Silencer_. 

**

Outside was a blur of fighters and cannon-fire. Rey contacted the Resistance channel to relay their callsigns then fell silent while her companion, squeezed in behind her, sobbed a dismal “Oh no. Drake.” They flew in silence for ten seconds alongside the combined wreck of the _Incinerator_ and the _Predator_ , now one burning chunk of plasteel and ferro-ceramics. 

Then they saw weapons’ fire redirect towards the _Absolution._ “Where did you say Archex was?”

“Right,” answered Rey, and she pushed the accelerator. 

**

The Supreme Leader barely had time to take in the disastrous spectacle before him when the first hits on the bridge doors boomed and he snapped around. 

The heavy steel doors would hold, but not eternally. He pressed a button to communicate with the technicians holding the most recent iteration of Elite Enhanced Storm-Troopers.

“Captain Havock, release the pack. Send them to clear the rabble scum outside the Main Bridge.” 

**

General Leia Organa watched as the Resurgent-Class star-destroyer _the Steadfast_ advanced on her little fleet. An occasional TIE-fighter scored a hit and the shields held, but each near-strike caused a tremor down her back, remembering her involuntary space-walk only weeks ago. It was her infamous Barve-pig-headedness alone that had kept her alive. It was her last-ditch effort to survive that had permitted her to use the Force to pull herself to an airlock. It was luck that her staff had seen her reach it, and pulled her in. 

The people around her diligently traced the various factions’s moves in the space around them. They stirred and discussed with purpose, knowing it would not be their own fleet that would defeat the First Order advancing on them, but that their stubborn presence was enough to act as a beacon of solidarity for those that would. Fighters from systems both allied for freedom and united against them swirled around the main antagonists in almost equal strength. 

“We stand our ground. We are the Resistance,” she stated, “we resist.”

“Yes Ma’am,” came the responses around her. 

**

Archex watched the _Incinerator_ rise and impact the _Predator,_ transforming both into a fiery inferno. He was awed and grateful for Drake’s sacrifice, it would be remembered for years to come. Then the bridge comms officer spoke excitedly:

“Captain Cardinal, Captain Vedna... Captain Telia is alive!” she blurted, before gasping as the first hits of the combined firepower of the other three loyal ships started to hit the _Absolution._

“She requests permission to come on board?” The ensign nearly squeaked the end of the phrase.

“Denied!” Vedna answered, before the ensign added, “yes, Sir, I’ll tell them, Sir. She’s not requesting Sirs. She’s coming on board.”

“Damn woman!” expleted Vedna, who was old enough to know why the Captain was joining his crew. “Stop grinning, Cardinal, we have to maneuver to evade fire and attack the _Dominatrix_.”

“Yes, Sir, may I go greet the Captain?” Dismissed, he left the bridge as the navigator punched evasive patterns into his console before positioning them to take on the target ship. 

**

Back outside the hangar - once she had delivered her trusted ally - Rey of Jakku flew a tight spiral around the _Absolution_ , assessing the situation as well as she could. She could see the Resistance flagship in the distance, a cloud of allied ships escorting it, some of them already engaged in dogfights in the space between the two enemy fleets. She managed to contact her friends, relief at the sound of her voice evident in their answers. 

Information flowed to and fro, and she heard background orders to open channels for her and Ben’s TIEs, and await contact from Cardo Ren from the First Order command shuttle. 

“Finn is breaking into the Main Bridge with the help of some of the Knights,” Rose informed her, and Rey nearly decided to return to the _Steadfast_ to help them. Then Larma relayed the current state of affairs: the stormtrooper rebels had commandeered most of the First Order fleet now, neutralizing the ships, but holding fire instead of risking more sacrifice. 

“Solo here,” Ben’s voice finally came on, and she thought she heard a discreet cheer echo in the channel. “Where do you need me?”

“Solo,” the General’s voice swelled as she found renewed strength, “find your better half and come help clear some of the gang members and fighters that picked the wrong side of history today. Let the First Order implode, they’re doing a fine job as is. You have a reputation to uphold.”

“A reputation?”

“As the Supreme Leader who turned for _love_ and joined the Resistance as a Hero.” There was more cheer at that and Ben felt himself blush. His time as the terrifying _Jedi-Killer_ was over. He felt — that _something_ in his heart — _bloom_. 

“Yes mom. Rey, I need you to join me in a pass over the _Steadfast’s_ main bridge.”

‘Aye, Solo, I see you. Rey out.”

**

Hux turned his back on the doors being pounded behind him. He had to keep a steady gaze on the rest of his fleet. The _Predator’s_ destruction had cancelled both the _Incinerator’s_ defeat and the _Harbinger’s_ steadfast resistance to mutiny. The only real advantage they had now was the apparent reluctance of the remaining mutineers to sacrifice any more of their numbers. Which meant, considering the superficial damage his flagship was receiving, that it was mostly overrun. 

“Sir…” one of his aides pointed, mouth working soundlessly after the first word. 

A duo of unmistakable TIE-fighter prototypes flew across their view port in a perfectly balanced helicoidal maneuver so tight one of his pilots whistled in admiration. The Dyad flew momentarily out of sight, only to reappear from over the bridge, down along the top deck, hedge-hopping and swerving left and right, taking every surface cannon-turret out along the way. Once over the prow, they continued on to join the Resistance fleet.

“Sir, that was…” the aide started again.

“I know who that was, idiot!” 

“Supreme Leader, we should retreat,” quietly said General Parnadee, in her reasonable voice.

In the following silence, the booming — of the _Avenger’s_ fire outside, and of the battering ram against the doors inside — resonated like the knell of death. Hux turned to his loyal staff: Gniss, Parnadee, Pryde; aides and commanders that had believed in the Order’s mission from the start, or as members of the Old Empire they had thought to restore. 

Then he turned to his enemy's flagship. Leia Organa, mother to the treacherous cur that had undone Snoke’s work, and sister to the last Jedi that had diverted Snoke’s attention for years, was only a few galactic kilometers away. 

Hux could fucking _see_ her. 

“We will not go down without taking the Resistance with us. Their shields won’t stand a dead-on ram. Full-speed ahead!”

“Sir! That will cause us damage as well!”

“We’ll lose our prow, but we will still have hyperdrive to get us out of here. They will be crushed into oblivion! Fire on them at will!”

**

They should have done this before. Sure they had flown these ships in parallel, coming back from that visit to the orphanage on Dressel. But now, they were bound by the Force and were flying as the _Dyad_ in near-perfect synchronisation. 

Rey piloted the _Whisper_ again, while Ben flew the _Silencer._ Between the Force and Ben’s knowledge and experience available to her through the Bond, she felt as one with the little fighter ship, and she freed her mind to pilot the TIE with ease, precisely following her lover’s lead. 

It was a mind-blowing experience. 

Ben Solo, aboard his custom-designed fighter, exulted as the killing machine Kylo Ren, and, together, they became a veritable double-helix of death. Force-pulling together when they needed to tighten the spiral, they drilled through the flights of hapless fighters attacking the allied fleet, occasionally shifting the center of gravity from one to the other in an eccentric twirl that threw their opponents’ targeting-system off by making them suddenly veer at an impossible angle. Very much like the bolas used by hunters on some planets, but with laser cannons shooting a tight grouping of bolts, their dance was a devastating tango. 

As they screamed across the _Manicouagan’s_ viewport, the bridge hushed in awed silence, echoing the terror of the last time the _Silencer_ passed so close to their command ship bridge, and Leia had to remind herself that her son had _not_ , if fact, shot the fateful blasts that had killed all the senior Resistance staff. 

She heard Poe yell this over the comms, trying to calm his squadrons down, his own voice almost shrill with the fright that the sight of the Dyad bearing down on their flagship had caused him; but then the duo passed, and made for the next flight of enemy, starboard of the fleet, and the way they punched through it had everyone who could see them whoop in triumph. 

“Two that are one,” whispered Luke; him and Chewie were captive aboard the ship with his sister, their glory days behind them. Chewie had found and bullied his way to man the attached _Falcon’s_ gun turret, but Luke had stayed on the bridge, watching the First Order tear itself apart, and the Dyad perform acrobatic feats in flight no sentient or droids could ever hope to accomplish.

“Look at them. No wonder the Dyad in the Force is rare as emperor shit and the Sith tried to create a Dyad time and again with the Rule of Two, but never made it. You have to have both Dark and Light to work together and combine willingly. You have to commune.”

Rey’s innocence and her strong sense of self-preservation had managed to resist and tame Ben’s passion and self-destruction. He had given her the acceptance and respect Luke and many others had not. 

“Their defiance will shake the stars,” Leia quoted, adapting Lando’s prediction to the fierce couple that had come home at last. 

**

On every ship, rebel troopers near viewports saw the Resistance fleet stand its ground and wait for them to come out victorious. The Resistance fighters did engage the First Order allies, but not the Order directly. Evacuation transports for non-combat-trained staff like cooks and cleaners were escorted to the planetside by friendly fighters while the rebellion raged on. It heartened every Rebel to continue this fight and hope for a better, peaceful future.

From Coruscant, the sight was one not seen for generations: the fall of a great military might. City officials readied crews to fly up and vaporize wreckage before it fell into the atmosphere, while gang Bosses readied their own crews to board whatever ships stayed up long enough to pilfer energy cells and weapons or rare materials. 

Bonn was flying the _Night Buzzard_ back up into the atmosphere, then out into the black of space where it took him a moment to get his bearings. Unsure of his next move, he contacted Archex. 

Archex had practically run to catch Telia in his arms once he saw her on the hangar bay floor and she hugged him back, shyly and briefly. He looked into her eyes and told her: “When this is over…” but didn't finish as she answered: “Agreed.” They made for the lift back to the bridge but the Rebel comm device rang and Archex dug it out of his pocket.

“Bonn, here. I’m on board the _Buzzard_ still, where do you need me?”

“How’s this ship holding out?” Telia asked Archex.

“Vedna has some maneuverability, she’s not boxed in like…” he skipped ahead, “so she’ll take on the _Harbinger_ or most likely the _Dominatrix_.”

“Not the _Steadfast_?”

“The _Steadfast_ still has ongoing Rebel effort on board. She’s mostly neutralized, but Finn is on there, trying to breach the Bridge.”

“Then let’s go help them. I’d like to witness the Supreme Council’s demise myself.” Archex looked at her again. Remembering their first exchanges, Kylo, then Hux and Pryde all working together to clean up the ships. They’d had different goals then but hadn’t realized it yet.

“Bonn, can you pick us up on the _Absolution_ and take us to the _Steadfast_?”

“Right away, Sir.” 

**

General Bellava Parnadee had had a long and successful career in the First Order, after a short and successful career in the Imperial fleet. She kept silent as she watched the Supreme Council — the First Order’s Top Brass strategic group put together by Supreme Leader Kylo Ren himself upon taking over the Order — argue tactics to escape their fates. 

It seemed treachery would once again destroy the organisation she had joined. 

The constant pounding on the bridge doors suddenly stopped. 

*

Finn felt the Drone troopers arrive less than a minute before they rounded the corner and shot the first blaster bolt at his squadron. He just had time to order his detachment into the conference room adjoining the Bridge while others set up barricades from the heavy plasteel tables and chairs pilfered from offices, or crouched in alcoves and opened maintenance hatches along the corridor. The drones’ aim was far superior than that of ordinary troopers and, even injured, they kept up their attack, as if they no longer felt pain. 

The attack was savage, relentless. Calls to the drones to surrender fell on deaf ears: there simply wasn’t anyone there to reason with. Rebel troopers fell, and Finn felt doubt for the first time. 

He wiped blood from a gash on his forehead that was bleeding in his left eye _“_ We have to continue breaking into the Bridge, we have to decapitate the Order! _”_ he shouted to the men with him, he wondered how much of the blood on their faces was their painted mark, and how much was actual injury. He turned to the Ren beside him — Kuruk, he thought — “We’ll rush them and cover you. Keep working on the door. We’re running out of time!” 

Kuruk nudged another Knight — _Trudgen_? — who nodded back. Finn signaled his men and they charged towards the intersection in the corridor. 

Finn had only had minimal training in the Force, and he called on it now to help him feel his way in the battle ahead; where combatants were, which blasters were ready to discharge, what the wielder’s intention was. 

Then, suddenly, he got a clear impression from a Drone before him on the left of the corridor. He squinted and pushed back against the _imminent_ attack. 

The attacker’s blaster diverted to the left, the bolt hitting the bulwark... instead of him. 

It took effort, but now Finn had the way of it. He knelt and stopped firing and put all his concentration into diverting incoming blaster bolts. When he sensed one throw a grenade — before it even left the troopers hand — he pushed even harder and the thing bounced back as if it had hit some invisible wall, taking its thrower and four drones with him. 

The drones fell back, and Finn fell forward on his hands, dazed by the effort. Ushar Ren clapped him on the shoulder: “Good work, Fnn. We’ll push forward, go back to the door; it’s just about to give.”

“Right. I’ll inform the others,” and he spoke into the crypto-comm device.

**

Chel Manning had joined Cardo on the Upsilon-class shuttle, still monitoring communications while her little team waited to evacuate. They pushed back occasional attacks, but few trooper detachments were bold enough to try to commandeer the First Order’s command shuttle for now. 

When she saw the Rebel leaders trio come in on the _Buzzard_ , she breathed a sigh of relief and confidence flooded her again. “We’re winning this,” she said, but now the Supre— _Hux_ wants to attack the Resistance directly. There was a drone attack outside the bridge doors. We’re almost through, though Finn _could_ use the help.” 

“Men, let’s go,” ordered Telia, arming herself and grabbing a bolt-proof vest and a vibro-blade for close-combat. She marched back to the _Buzzard_ , not even looking back. 

“You heard the Captain, Captain, let’s go,” Bonn smirked. 

They flew out and found that airlock behind the command tower and managed to align and couple the transport even as hellfire rained around their little ship. 

There were still some battles happening in the corridors and some areas of the Star-destroyer, and the trio soon realized they needed to identify themselves to not get shot in the crossfire. Bonn bent down and dipped his hand in a pool of blood from some hapless soldier, then slashed his fingers across his face, leaving the three-stripe mark the Rebels had agreed on. He did the same for his companions. At the lift they picked up a detachment of six friendly troopers, and they made their way to the bridge as quickly as they could. 

**

Ziton Moj marched to the Black Sun headquarters hangar, hardly believing what his second-in-command had just told him. Han Solo’s son— and his widow, _and_ his companion Chewbacca — were all up there. 

“Boss, we should be getting the hell out of here,” warned his trusted second, visibly regretting giving that information to his temperamental leader. 

“We’ll never get an opportunity like this again. We can destroy the whole Solo family in just one swoop!”

“Sir, even if we do, who will pay us? The Order is disintegrating before our very eyes!”

“Think of the Glory, Tavik. Think of the stories to tell your grand-kids!”

“I’m not even married, Boss.”

But Ziton Moj got into the pilot’s seat of the heavily-armed and modified-armored Fang-class starfighter and shut the canopy, and the fighter took off and made for the slow-flashing red blimp on the nav display: the _Millennium Falcon_. 

**

“We can at least reverse thrusters and move away some, keep some distance between us,” suggested the pilot, but Leia knew the _Steadfast_ would close on them anyway. 

“No. Our standing fast shows a confidence that will enrage them further.” She saw the worried frown on her pilot's face. “All right, you can raise us up relative to their ship. That way, we can at least evade them when their inertia carries them forward.”

“What if they pull a Holdo maneuver on us?” Kaidel asked, the memory of that flash still imprinted in her mind.

The navigator replied. “The fail-safes on star-destroyers are too many and too complex to disable for a crew in the middle of a mutiny. They would have had to plan it well in advance, and even if Hux wanted to go out the same way the Admiral did, I doubt his staff — or the techniciens — would allow it. No; he can try to ram us, but only at impulse speed, no more.” 

“There, team. I know the wait is terrible, but there will be lots of rescuing to do once the Order capitulates.”

**

“That’s FN-2187 out there. He survived, and he’s one of those Force-users!” General Pryde exclaimed, looking at the image transmitted from one of the drones-troopers outside the bridge. 

“ _How did he get on my ship_?” Hux shrieked, “override the Drones, rush the mutineers, don’t let them breach these doors while we destroy the Resistance and everyone with them!”

**

The pry-bars were inserted; even with the Ren and Finn straining on each side, each inch was gained at the price of immense effort. 

“Uh-ho, they’re doing something different,” announced a rebel.

Troopers were drilled into taking stupid risks, but this attack was desperate. Once again, Finn and his companions were forced to abandon the doors and seek cover as the Drones — lacking any kind of self-preservation — simply ran at their team, shooting and dying and shooting as they died. More rebels fell, their cover diminishing as their enemy advanced, and when Kuruk announced he was out of grenades, Finn wondered if they would all die here, troopers from both sides piled up before the doors, while the Generals pushed them around from the safety of the bridge. 

When another detachment of stormtroopers showed up, his shoulders sagged... until he saw they all had blood-red stripes on their faces, and hope filled his heart. 

The Drones fell forward as they were hit from behind and Finn saw his Crimson guard leaders step forward, with them a broken-nosed woman he’d never met but could only be Captain Telia.

“Carry on,” said the tall woman, before swiftly shooting one of the droid-bugs before it got too far away. 

They all turned back to the door. 

**

“Full-speed ahead!” screamed Hux as he saw the image of the last drone fall. 

**

The Dyad were coordinating with squad-leader Poe Dameron, though there wasn’t much he could tell them. They were at least polite enough to inform him of their next target, which, considering their erratic flight patterns, was probably the most they could do to integrate the squadron. Watching the duo — between two attacks of his own — Poe was reminded of a rare few afternoons when Senator Organa had visited with his family, and Ben Solo had been brought along to meet with the Damerons. The boys had run out back to climb on top of his mother’s ship and tell tall tales of their parents' prowess and how they would grow up to be the best pilots in the galaxy. 

They had. 

BB-8 bleeped a warning at him.

“That Fang-class, a Black Sun ship? You’re right, I see it. It’s moving in on the _Manicouagan_ .” Poe watched the little fighter. Gang members weren’t known for suicide missions. Then he saw the _Falcon_ still attached to the hull of the flagship. 

He grabbed his microphone. “Command, is anyone on the _Falcon_? You’ve got some pissed-off old acquaintance coming in,” he called in.

**

The bridge doors were pried apart only inches, but that was enough to wedge in the mechanical jack the Ren had brought with them. Now, trying to avoid blaster shots and the jack being pushed back out alike, Finn got a glimpse of the _Manicouagan_ uncomfortably close in the viewport, and decided he was out of patience. 

He turned to the Ren: “you guys can use the Force, right?”

“Only a little, we’re not really trained for it,” Kuruk answered stiffly.

“That sucks. We’ll see to that. Now we are going to Force these doors open.” Finn turned to the men and women in the corridor with him, “get ready. We end this _now_.”

And, a pair on each door, the Force-sensitives applied all their efforts to breaching the _Steadfast_ command bridge. 

The doors slammed open. 

A firefight ensued. 

**

“Chewie, get the hell out of there!” yelled Luke, only seconds before the _Millennial Falcon’s_ port wing exploded. 

The Black Sun starfighter banked hard and looped back for a second run and the starboard wing, with the cockpit, broke off. 

Silence.

Then a howl shook the Flagship back into action. 

“Chewie, Maker, I thought for sure you were a goner this time.” Luke ran on shaky legs until he found the wookie just inside the connecting airlock… crying. 

Most of the _Falcon_ had been ripped apart. 

“I know I know Chewie.” Luke pat his friend awkwardly; then they both cried. 

*

Ben Solo heard Poe’s message and made the scene just in time to witness the destruction of the family freighter. 

Then he saw the Fang-class starfighter speed off planetside. 

“Rey, join me,” he spoke into the mic. 

“Right,” came the answer.

“Let me know if you need help,” Poe assured them as the Dyad sped off. 

**

General Frantis Gniss blew his brains out. 

The firefight lasted a full minute while junior and senior officers scrambled for shelter behind their consoles, shooting at the invading rebels, who quickly found and submitted them. 

Then General Bellava Parnadee called out and put her hands up. Pryde followed suit, only one hand up while his other hand held his injured side.

The _Manicouagan_ was so close in the viewport, it looked like one could jump off the prow of one ship and jump onto the others. 

Then the Supreme Leader Armitage Hux spat another gob of blood and finally stood, hands up. 

Telia found and locked eyes with the pilot, and he gratefully punched in controls to slow the ship and deviate its course to pass starboard of the Resistance fleet and avoid collision. 

Finn, Archex and Bonn held their blasters levelled at Hux and his Council. The Knights of Ren moved forward and kicked them to their knees. 

Hux looked around them, expecting Kylo Ren to show up and gloat and take up the title again. “Where is your Master?” he asked Trudgen, the deception having been revealed. “Does he think to reclaim his title here?” 

“Shut up, Hux, We’re past that now,” Trudgen answered in a soft whisper uncharacteristic of the sturdy Knight. Today was the end of many Orders and many things he had lived years with.

Hux spat blood at their feet. “Execute me now. There’s no point in delaying it,” he announced, still defiant. 

Telia spoke at that: “You’ll get a fair trial, Armitage. The significant help you provided in the initial rescue mission of the _foundlings_ will be considered. Now stand up, and announce your defeat, so the troops can stand down.”

“I will do no such thing—”

“Who’s next in command here,” Finn suddenly blurted, witnessing the scene and thinking of the battles still out there, people on either side still fighting and dying while the Generals were playing at preserving their pride.

“Pryde, I believe. Then Parnadee,” said Archex, taking the hint. “Parnadee is certainly _reasonable_ enough to concede defeat, I’m sure,” he added, emphasising the word. 

“Who will judge me, then? Ben Solo? His _mother_? I demand a trial by my peers!” Hux ranted, but his defiance was leaving him as blood finally drained from his face and he swayed with exhaustion, almost falling forward. When no one answered, he conceded. 

“We surrender. The First Order is defeated.” 

Kuruk handed Finn a pair of cuffs: “Here, you’ve earned this,” and Finn handcuffed the ex-Supreme Leader while his mates handcuffed the other generals and surviving staff on the Main Bridge of the _Steadfast_. 

Captain San’Luxida walked to the main comms console and the tech quickly opened the general message channel.

“First Order Forces and Allies, this is Captain Telia San’Luxida from the Bridge of the First Order Flagship the _Steadfast_. Armitage Hux has conceded defeat and you are ordered to stand down and stop all fighting immediately. Return to the main hangars of the ships still in functioning order and turn in your weapons, then form up to receive further instructions.”

Telia paused a moment, then added: “Find and submit any Enhanced Elite troopers you can and bring them to the _Steadfast_ . We will proceed to free them from the droid tech that was implanted in their _brains_ ,” she spat that with such venom that Hux flinched with the dawning realization of the horrible mistake he had made. “And see if we can save them.” 

**

“The Steadfast veered port; they’re _slowing_!” announced the navigator aboard the Resistance ship, and when victory was announced, excited cheers rang in the halls and the Skywalker twins and Chewbacca walked back onto the bridge to hugs and congratulations, and calls for a cease-fire for the starfighters still caught up in battle above the skies of Coruscant.

**

The little Fang-class Starfighter sped along, the Dyad in hot pursuit. Its shields were much better than the initial model had, and was holding up well against the barrage of lasers and missiles the twin TIEs shot at it. 

“He’s luring us, you know that,” Rey finally spoke into her mic, “He’s probably got a little fleet of friends waiting for us just out of sensors of the rest of the battle.”

“We have a good chance, you and I. Together, we can take on anything.” Solo’s son boasted, “if we don’t end the Black Sun today, they’ll just hunt us down tomorrow, when we least expect them.” 

They heard the call of victory for the Resistance over the comms. Then they heard Poe: “All flight squadrons break engagement and come back unless doing so proves impossible. The enemy is disengaging as we speak.”

“Well, we got our orders, gotta head back.” Rey's excitement had worn off. Adrenaline faded and she was coming down from the combat high. 

“We don’t have to heed that. This is personal, anyway. Whoever that is, he just destroyed my father’s— “ Ben broke off. Silence took over the channel as Rey felt emotions roil within the Bond.

_*Ben, I’m tired.*_

She waited, letting her ship slow. She fell behind. 

_*All right.*_

He banked right and they turned and they both headed back to the Fleet.

_That woman_ , thought Ziton Moj as he saw the pair — and his revenge — speed away, _she has him on a tight leash._


	33. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Later, much later, he looked at the other print. The one with the great blue wave. The small village huts clustered on the shore stood between the storm surge and the snow-capped volcano that was the island. Men and women had built their homes between fire and water.

They floated between the two flagships, Resistance and First Order. They could dock the TIEs to the _Manicouagan_ — awkwardly — or they could land in a hangar in the Star-Destroyer and make for his old quarters. Maybe recuperate some of his stuff. His artist supplies. 

Ben chose the latter option.

The Resistance had only assisted the effort today and lost many fighters, but the real toll had been in the First Order ranks and the hangar bay was filled with bodies being brought in and placed in rows on the ground, where survivors identified them and covered them before they were tallied, placed in bags, and sent for recuperation in the great composting vats in the belly of the ships. 

The Dyad climbed out of the prototype fighter-ships and Ben hesitated for less than a minute before he rolled up his sleeves and joined the teams already at work. After a while he realized Rey had joined him, then he saw Cardo further down the row, and of course Kuruk with him, and then he just concentrated on loading up the bodies carefully on the trollies once they were ready and their number entered into the list. There would be many memorials during the next week to honor the dead on both sides of the conflict. 

“We have records for these soldiers?” he asked the technician with the datapad. 

“Most of them, Sir. Not all of them, unfortunately.”

“We should make those records available to the survivors who want to find their families again.”

“Yes, Sir. Maybe compensate the families of the dead?” The tech had won his freedom today. He was confident, even if he knew who he was speaking with. 

“If we can find the funds. We should. I’ll talk about it with…” Ben stopped. He didn’t know what role he had in a world without a galactic conflict anymore. 

_I am Ben Solo_ , he thought, _let’s start there_. 

Then the tech looked up from his datapad and addressed him again. 

“Sir. Medbay wants you. They say they’re overloaded with wounded and need healers.”

“Of course. I didn’t think of that. Thank you for…” _for not killing me today_ , he thought, but he said, “for relaying the message. Good work.” 

He counted in his head: with the Knights, they were six healers. 

Six ships had survived the mutiny, relatively intact: the _Steadfast_ , the _Avenger_ , the _Harbinger_ , the _Absolution_ , the _Dominatrix_ (shame, that one), and the _Behemoth_ , thought with only a skeleton crew, that one had no more personnel on it than any of the relatively smaller star-destroyers. 

There were no Resistance wounded to look after; space battles were merciless, no one survived a breached ship in the void of space. 

He called upon his Ren, and Finn, and they agreed to be dispatched to the ships that most needed them; even Trudgen. 

The next two days were a blur of triage and building and improving a skill that had been lost for generations by the Jedi. When Luke joined them, moving from ship to ship to assist the knights who were unsure of themselves, Ben realized that they were essentially reforming them to become a new generation of trained Force-users.

When Luke agreed with him, they both recognized that they were healing more than First Order wounded. They were healing Jedi wounds as well. 

“We won’t make the same mistakes I did.” Luke stated. 

“That all the Jedi did,” added Rey, who was with them at the end of the second day, dark circles under her eyes from lack of sleep. They were all exhausted, but there were no deaths anymore.

“And the Sith, who also twisted things to turn Force-users into inhuman monsters,” concluded Ben. He pushed his bite of bread around in his plate, sopping up the rest of the purple liquid the exhausted cook had called “sauce”. They had slept in shift on pallets near the medical bay, never making it to his quarters. They had healed everyone and anyone that had needed it, Rebel and Loyalist alike, and they had been both blessed and cursed several times over. Ben managed to bite his tongue and accept both as he listened to his patients’ rants, or cries of relief. 

Then Dr. Cylkarr and the others finally declared the ships “medical-emergency-free” and dismissed them. 

He stepped back into his quarters for the first time since Hux’s mutiny. 

It was strange to find the place had not been ransacked. Searched, certainly, but Hux’s love of order had extended to his estranged brother’s belongings, and only his drawings had been removed, given to Telia to compose that almost poetic propaganda piece that had aided the Resistance in ways that had taken everyone by surprise. 

“ _A hope for peace for him and his Desert Flower_ ”, the piece went. 

His _Desert Flower_ was in the ‘fresher right now. When he came out in turn, she was fast asleep and he curled up around her and joined her soon enough.

**

When he woke he watched her for long minutes in the filtered light from the Core stars. They had moved away from Coruscant, not out of the system, but far enough for the inhabitants to not feel threatened by a still impressive fleet above them. He turned to look out the port window at the Galaxy’s core, filled with so many suns it was almost nightless.

He felt a hand alight on his chest and turned back to see Rey had awakened and had that look in her eye, the one she had when she wanted him to climb over her and cage her in and cover her completely with his body, but gently. 

It was so easy, with her. They spent the whole cycle making love, moving from room to room to room, giggling as she accepted every caress he proposed to her, and he hers. 

Her curiosity and her energy seemed boundless, sometimes slow, sometimes frantic following the moods of the music playing in the background. They stopped only for meals and the occasional other needs of their body. As they lay basking in an afterglow and staring at the wall of his bedroom, the prints he loved came into focus, and he realised the black fish had joined the pale one in the pond. 

The dragon had been a dream. He told her so. Her comment surprised him. 

“Or maybe they became the dragon together.”

“Could be… What do you want to do now?”

“Travel. Meet people. Study. Kill more slavers.”

Ben was taken aback by that last one. “K- kill?”

“Yes.”

He fell silent. Through the bond he felt her hunger. It was a hunger that could not be denied. A hunger that could not be sated with sex alone, not unless he was willing to invite others into their bed. He wasn’t. He suddenly remembered when her Light had stopped burning him. He thought at first it was because his own Light had grown. It had. Feeding on hers.

If he’d thought to settle down and start a family now he’d been mistaken. She was not ready. She’d met him halfway in the Force and taught him healing. He’d taught her murder. 

“You’re a monster,” he told her, and flipped her onto his stomach to spank her, making her squeal with pleasure. 

Later, much later, he looked at the other print. The one with the great blue wave. The small village huts clustered on the shore stood between the storm surge and the snow-capped volcano that was the island. Men and women had built their homes between fire and water. 

He had vague memories of being informed that the Resistance staff and the Rebel staff were arranging meetings planetside with the representatives already there to start sorting out the Galaxy’s power structures, and realized he had not been invited. 

He hazily remembered his mother telling him — during the rush of healing the wounded — that the Resistance — and what was forming into yet another New Republic — had decided not to press charges against him for crimes committed during his short tenure as Supreme Leader. Luke had likewise declined to press charges.

Which meant he was free. 

“Mercenaries, then,” he finally said, “Luke won’t be happy.” 

“Why did you learn to wield a lightsaber then, if not to fight?” 

“We hunted for Jedi artifacts and texts. They were often cached in Sith temples, guarded by SithSpawn.” He remembered the dreaded creatures they would find: deformed, force-sensitive, almost-sentient animals that craved warmth and the firm grip of a Master. They whispered seductive promises of loyal servitude to him if only he’d tame one and brought it home. 

‘No,’ Luke had denied him, ‘we can’t take them as pets.’ ‘Why not?’ young Benjamin Solo had asked, almost hypnotized by the pearlescent-skinned creature’s yellow eyes. 

‘Because to keep them you have to feed them flesh from sentient beings.’

“Oh.” And that was that. They killed the wretched creatures who lived in constant pain when they couldn’t feed themselves and who often threatened villagers on planets where Sith shrines had been erected. 

Dark-side abilities didn’t demand blood sacrifices to use, like he’d told Finn, but his Dyad half did. To keep the balance between them, that “dirty deal” still stood.

He was not so free after all. No politics and titles for him, but he wielded that other, mystical power, the Force. Closing himself off from it was mind-numbing. Closing himself from the Light had made him wretched. He was responsible for keeping the Light, and the Last Jedi Master Luke had accepted that he had to live with the Dark as well. So Rey was there, and she demanded blood. 

“SithSpawn, hun?”

“Oh, you’ll like them. They scare _me_.”

“Really? More than I do?” Her eyes were deep and dark. They had killed for a whole day and healed countless wounded for two.

“Almost.”

***

“You can still choose to live.” Ben sat across from Hux in the little cell. 

“They will never let me out and you know it,” Hux retorted, “would _you_ accept perpetual imprisonment?” 

“You were doomed from the start, being the son of Brendol Hux. The First Order was a spawn of the Sith Empire. Do you know what you could have done to save yourself?”

“Save myself… like you? You’re the son of the Resistance General, of course you had some advantage over me, don’t you think?”

Ben felt the accusation deeply: it was true. History is told by the Victors. Then he remembered, “I was also damned by being grandson of Darth Vader, that’s what caught Snoke’s interest. He came after me, personally.”

Hux sneered. “And he was so often disappointed with you. _I_ would have made him proud. He _was_ satisfied with my service. But _you,”_ he sneered, “have the ‘Force’.” 

The conversation was going nowhere. Ben excused himself before his brother-in-arms Armitage started his rant again on the need to eradicate Force-users from the galaxy. 

Hux was unrepentant. 

Ben had a flashback of meeting Rey for the first time on Takodana. How the initial contact had made his heart flutter. 

Armitage had had no such luck. 

***

Before the trials began, there were multiple ceremonies to honor the dead stretching for a whole week. On the last day, Ben brought the Vader relic to Luke, ready to put it to rest. 

“How long have you had this?” asked a bewildered Luke Skywalker.

“You could say it came with the Knights of Ren. It was already part of the Order’s collected artifacts when I joined.” 

Luke held the ugly thing in his hands, feeling the Force still infused in it. 

“I don’t know what to do with it. I’m guessing where I buried his armor on Endor must have been plundered and nothing else remains,” Luke mused. 

The men sat together. The _Falcon_ was gone, but the Vader mask remained. 

“There’s a lesson to be remembered here, for sure,” said Ben. 

“Don’t be afraid to love?” offered Luke. 

Ben looked at him comically. “That would make the ancient Jedi cross.”

“Good. We’ll go with that.”

“I hope so, because Finn asked for Rose’s hand.”

**

“With the work we’ve done here, he’ll have five more years. We really just slowed down the disease’s progress.”

The Doctors — Indah Cylkarr, Hegert Giosk, and some from other factions, had treated Luke Skywalker with the superior tech of the First Order, and combined it with the Allied Systems top-tier medical staff. For some reason, Force-healing wouldn’t help, and Luke said it had to do with balance. So they had maybe five years to rebuild a Jedi school. One that included emotions, even the ugly ones. 

The medics had teamed up to save as many Drone-troopers as possible, but the damage to the trooper’s brain had been considerable, and the first survivors had been left barely more than vegetables. Lobotomized. 

Then the droid techs and engineers — including Rose and Rey — had asked for some time and training for the embedded droids to attain sentience - the very thing they had been carefully monitored on to avoid it’s emergence. 

That had required active participation by the droid-team at hand: C3-PO, R2-D2 and especially BB-8 had worked out a protocol to aid in the tiny spiders’ “awakening”. 

It would be weeks before anyone would know how the new hybrid ‘cyborgs’ would adapt, but the autonomous droids were hopeful. 

The tech and all its related research, of course, would be used as evidence in court in the case against Armitage Hux and his surviving staff before being destroyed. The key accusation would remain the destruction of the Hosnian System and the New Republic headquarters; the recommended sentence: death or life-imprisonment. Hux had demanded death. The trial was expected to be a short but showy affair. 

**

Telia San’Luxida had protested officiating the ceremony — without her ship, was she still a Captain? — but had finally agreed when she was told how her rescue’s importance had grown ten-fold once the Dyad had decided on her participation. Besides, they told her, she had pretty much announced their betrothal to the rest of the galaxy with that poetic propaganda she had written. 

She chuckled and accepted. 

The wedding would take place on Naboo, on the Amidala’s remaining estates. It would be a small affair, only a hundred guests, a banquet, and a band that played that music Ben loved so much he painstakingly taught Rey the dance during the weeks of preparation. 

Watching her, one afternoon, Master Skywalker saw her evolve into a grace they had suspected from her ease at learning fighting forms, and when she felt confident in a sequence of steps, her passion would shine through and he was reminded of the conversation he’d had with her when she’d come back to the Resistance a few weeks back.

“The Arts!” he told his nephew excitedly, “I remember how practicing forms calmed you. And drawing.”

“But what about her bloodlust?” Ben winced saying it, he hadn’t meant to bring that out into the open. 

“What she makes doesn’t have to be ‘beautiful’. I remember some of your drawings, angry red and black scrawls that were terrifying.” The older man paused. “I feel so stupid not understanding how they helped you express your pain.”

“I can see it working. Kuruk charmed Cardo playing his bugle. We laughed at him, but he was the most gentle Knight between us. Relatively speaking.”

“I remember he loved playing that bugle.” Silence caught for a moment while unsaid things passed between them. “Where are the Knights now? Are there still Knights?” 

“Yes and no; Trudgen left us. The others are hunting the last of the Black Suns. I hope that doesn’t turn into our honeymoon trip.”

“Yikes, I hope not.”

**

Leia Organa-Solo had a soft hand when it came time to brush Chewie’s lavish fur, but with age, her arms weren't what they used to and when she tired, Poe took over and when _he_ tired, Finn finished the job before going back to getting ready for the wedding. Chewbacca looked positively brilliant.

Chewie had agreed to be Ben Solo’s first man, and Archex - as a native of Jakku - would give away the bride, Rey of Jakku. 

Rey had refused any dress she couldn’t run in, and finally Leia and Larma accepted that they would be lucky to have her wear silk slippers instead of sturdy boots. So they had commissioned for her a simple but elegant shell-spider silken gown in shades of pale green and blue (but those are my favorite colours! I should be able to wear my favorite colours!) and only the hem and bodice - and the sleeves, and the slippers - had been embroidered with colorful threaded beads of pink stones and clutches of pale pearls. A netting of the same pale pearls held her hair in a fabulous braid not seen for generations. 

It had disappointed some of the attending ladies to have to dress _down_ for a wedding, but to be invited at all was honour enough. Most of the men wore the traditional dress of their systems. 

His title as a Jedi Knight restored, Ben wore traditional Jedi clothing, never before worn for a wedding, albeit in darker shades of green and blue to match his betrothed. He’d asked his Knights to join but they had declined, almost politely, and he had not been foolish enough to insist. 

The ex-stormtroopers and First Order officers that were present, Vedna, Mitaka, Bonn, Manning, others like the doctors and techs that had supported the rebellion effort, as well as surviving Resistance members all went by civilian clothing to emphasise the war’s end. 

A moment’s silence to honour the absentees’ sacrifices was observed before the wedding ceremony began.

It was funny to see the tall, broken-nosed Telia tremble nervously before the guests, her little ritual book shaking in her hands, and Ben Solo thanked her in his deep, resonant voice to calm her before she started. 

The rite was thankfully short, Jakku’s tradition having been compared to Naboos’s and chosen over the elaborate chants and hand gestures of the latter. 

Then came the time for the reciting of vows.

> You are my light 
> 
> You are my night
> 
> You are my soul 
> 
> You are my heart
> 
> You are my love 
> 
> You are my life
> 
> You are my half
> 
> You are my half
> 
> Together, we are one
> 
> But together, we are more

***

“Two Solos make a Dyad.” Poe dropped into the free seat beside Ben. 

“Yeah, ‘the Solo Dyad’, it’s a pun, right?” 

“Could have been worse, could have been Rey Ren. Like, permanently.”

“Yeah, no. I’m not that open-minded.” 

Poe raised an eyebrow, then smirked. “Jealous?”

“Yup. Totally assumed.” Ben looked around, “Where’s your date?”

“Around, getting us drinks. So I hear you’re hunting down the last Black Sun members…” Something in Poe’s tone was suggestive. The best starfighter-pilots in the galaxy weren't really going to stop jumping into their planes and blow things up. 

“Let us have our honeymoon first. We can start our own little wars later.” 

**

Ben Solo was patient and ready when Rey downed her drink and finally stood and took his hand to take him to the dance floor. He’d warned the band to be ready to play the short series of songs he’d requested, and they transitioned smoothly from the one they were playing to the first one. 

“Oh, I know this one,” breathed Rey. “You do?” smiled Ben, and he spun her around him once before pulling her close and placing his right hand precisely across her back. She moved with him, looked into his eyes, her own brilliant smile answering with a nod. “Ah, you do.”

It was an ordinary _complainte_ , as this style went, but it warmed them up nicely and by the end of it, the bonded Dyad had synced. 

By the second song, Rey had closed her eyes and forgotten the people around them; people who progressively freed the floor, understanding something was happening.

By the third, Rey’s Force energy began to overflow, and Ben drank her in, and guided her through more elaborate steps as she flowed around him like water, like currents unseen by all but an exceptional few. He hummed in her ear, himself freed from care for anything but the joy of being alive and loved. 

The band had only a short list, but they knew a perfect duo when they saw one. The next song started a devilish rhythm and they spun in that impossible helix only the Dyad could ever achieve.

Suddenly Rey, tapped a series of resounding knocks in an arc on the wooden floor as he spun her around, ground her heel to a stop and opened deep green eyes to stare into his. For a moment, Ben Solo thought she would pierce his heart right there, a clash of sparks in a tree-filled snowscape suddenly flashing to his mind. 

He was hard-pressed to keep up with her after that, and by the time the song ended, everything had become a blur and he simply picked her up and carried her away into the house.

* THE END *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's done.  
> Or at least that's where I finish it, exhausted but with a HEA I feel we deserved.

**Author's Note:**

> I can't believe I wrote the whole thing. Thank you to my faithful subscribers who felt as compelled to read this story as I was compelled to write it. The vision I had grew and grew - aided by the other stories I had written before - until this one became my longest work. Is it my best? I'm not sure. I will never write the 'perfect' story, but I was damn happy to give Finn and his brethren a proper storyline.
> 
> Note: if you felt like there was not enough **sex** in this story, "Slippery When Wet" (https://archiveofourown.org/works/26605969) has outtakes from a raunchier version of BG I won't write.


End file.
